When called upon to endorse a fellow physician seeking Ohio privileges, an Ohio doctor must use due diligence. A local ophthalmologist completed medical school in late 1970’s, as did an out of state physician seeking a recommendation. There had been no contact between the two for thirty years. The out of state physician then contacted the ophthalmologist, asking whether he would complete a board-issued form, recommending the out of state physician for Ohio licensure. The local ophthalmologist decided that prudence dictated he meet with the out of state physician. There was a thirty minute meeting about the nature of this physician’s practice, and his interaction with patients, but no discussion about the applicant’s moral character, whether he had practiced medicine continuously since the late 1970’s, whether licenses he held in Illinois or New York had ever been revoked or suspended, or whether there had been discipline imposed for narcotics addiction. Following the meeting, the Ohio ophthalmologist completed the recommendation form, and sent it to the Ohio State Medical Board. The Ohio ophthalmologist rated as excellent the applicant’s medical knowledge, relationship with his patients, ability to interact with peers and medical staff, affirmed that the applicant was “of good moral character”, but left blank a question about how long the applicant was personally known to the Ohio physician. Thereafter, the Board considered the application of the out of state physician and decided it should be permanently denied, because of an out of state felony conviction and out of state disciplinary actions.
Subsequently, much to the chagrin of the Ohio physician, he was notified that The Ohio State Medical Board intended to take disciplinary action against him. A hearing was conducted. The Ohio physician testified that his recommendation was based upon a “great meeting” with the out of state physician applicant, but the physician also conceded he had never practiced with the applicant, nor saw him interact with his patients, nor questioned the applicant about any past legal problems or disciplinary actions. The hearing examiner concluded there was insufficient evidence that the Ohio physician violated Ohio Revised Code § 4731.22, and there was no evidence that the Ohio physician intended to mislead the medical board by his statements. Thereafter, the Ohio State Medical Board met and decided to amend the conclusions of law issued by the hearing officer, to hold that the actions of the Ohio physician did constitute a violation of the Ohio statute.
The Ohio physician took an appeal to the Common Pleas Court. That Court decided that there was sufficient evidence to establish intent to deceive, in that the Ohio physician possessed no actual knowledge of the matters on which the recommendation was based. The Court found this to be a “bogus recommendation”. The Court further found that this conduct constituted violation of another Ohio statute, essentially constituting the crime of falsification. On appeal to the Tenth Appellate District, the majority reversed. The appellate Court found there was insufficient evidence of intent to mislead. Thus, the appellate Court found that the Common Pleas Court below had abused its discretion in affirming the order of the medical board, which constituted a written reprimand to the Ohio physician for the completion of the recommendation. The dissenting Judge on the Court of Appeals held that the Ohio State Medical Board has an obligation to assure that only people of good moral character, not recently convicted felons, be licensed to practice medicine in Ohio.
An interesting footnote to this case was that another Ohio physician was disciplined by the same state medical board, for making the same type of recommendations, on behalf of the same out of state physician, but she only met the out of state physician at a cocktail party, and made even fewer inquiries into his background.
This decision serves to remind Ohio physicians that the Ohio State Medical Board takes a very active interest in not only the manner and means that medicine is practiced in Ohio, but also by whom. Established Ohio physicians should be cautious when fielding a request from an out of state physician that is no more than a past acquaintance, or medical school classmate, before offering open ended endorsements. Otherwise, disciplinary action may follow. If you have any questions regarding disciplinary powers of The Ohio State Medical Board or any issue regarding medical privileges, please contact one of our Health Care Practice attorneys.