85R10955 BEE-D
 
  By: Zedler H.B. No. 2747
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to eligibility for and grounds for disciplinary action
  applicable to a license to practice medicine.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 155.003(e), Occupations Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (e)  An applicant is not eligible for a license if:
               (1)  the applicant:
                     (A)  holds a medical license that is currently
  restricted for cause, canceled for cause, suspended for cause, or
  revoked by a state, a province of Canada, or a uniformed service of
  the United States; or
                     (B)  has been subject to disciplinary action with
  respect to a medical license by any licensing entity in the five
  years preceding the date of application;
               (2)  an investigation or a proceeding is instituted
  against the applicant for the restriction, cancellation,
  suspension, or revocation in a state, a province of Canada, or a
  uniformed service of the United States; or
               (3)  a prosecution is pending against the applicant in
  any state, federal, or Canadian court for any offense that under the
  laws of this state is a felony or a misdemeanor that involves moral
  turpitude.
         SECTION 2.  Section 164.051(a), Occupations Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  The board may refuse to admit a person to its
  examination or refuse to issue a license to practice medicine and
  may take disciplinary action against a person if the person:
               (1)  commits an act prohibited under Section 164.052;
               (2)  is convicted of[,] or is placed on deferred
  adjudication community supervision or deferred disposition for [:
                     [(A)]  a felony; [or
                     [(B)  a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude;]
               (3)  commits or attempts to commit a direct or indirect
  violation of a rule adopted under this subtitle, either as a
  principal, accessory, or accomplice;
               (4)  is unable to practice medicine with reasonable
  skill and safety to patients because of:
                     (A)  illness;
                     (B)  drunkenness;
                     (C)  excessive use of drugs, narcotics,
  chemicals, or another substance; or
                     (D)  a mental or physical condition;
               (5)  is found by a court judgment to be of unsound mind;
               (6)  fails to practice medicine in an acceptable
  professional manner consistent with public health and welfare;
               (7)  is removed, suspended, or is subject to
  disciplinary action taken by the person's peers in a local,
  regional, state, or national professional medical association or
  society, or is disciplined by a licensed hospital or medical staff
  of a hospital, including removal, suspension, limitation of
  hospital privileges, or other disciplinary action, if the board
  finds that the action:
                     (A)  was based on unprofessional conduct or
  professional incompetence that was likely to harm the public; and
                     (B)  was appropriate and reasonably supported by
  evidence submitted to the board;
               (8)  is subject to repeated or recurring meritorious
  health care liability claims that in the board's opinion evidence
  professional incompetence likely to injure the public; or
               (9)  except as provided by Subsection (d), holds a
  license to practice medicine subject to disciplinary action by
  another state, or subject to disciplinary action by the uniformed
  services of the United States, based on acts by the person that are
  prohibited under Section 164.052 or are similar to acts described
  by this subsection.
         SECTION 3.  Section 155.003(e), Occupations Code, as amended
  by this Act, applies only to an application for a license to
  practice medicine submitted to the Texas Medical Board on or after
  the effective date of this Act. An application for a license
  submitted before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
  law in effect on the date the application was submitted, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.