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.