BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1127
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          Date of Hearing:   April 12, 2011

              ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER 
                                     PROTECTION
                                 Mary Hayashi, Chair
                   AB 1127 (Brownley) - As Amended:  April 4, 2011
           
          SUBJECT  :   Physicians and surgeons: unprofessional conduct.

           SUMMARY  :   Makes it unprofessional conduct for a physician and 
          surgeon who is the subject of an investigation by the Medical 
          Board of California (MBC) to repeatedly fail, in the absence of 
          good cause, to attend and participate in an interview scheduled 
          by the mutual agreement of the physician and surgeon and the 
          Board.

           EXISTING LAW  

          1)Provides for the licensure and regulation of physicians and 
            surgeons under the Medical Practice Act by the MBC.

          2)Requires the MBC to take action against any licensee who is 
            charged with unprofessional conduct.

          3)Provides that unprofessional conduct includes, but is not 
            limited to, the following:

             a)   Violating or attempting to violate, directly or 
               indirectly, assisting in or abetting the violation of, or 
               conspiring to violate any provision of this chapter.

             b)   Gross negligence.

             c)   Repeated negligent acts, as specified.

             d)   Incompetence.

             e)   The commission of any act involving dishonesty or 
               corruption which is substantially related to the 
               qualifications, functions, or duties of a physician and 
               surgeon.

             f)   Any action or conduct which would have warranted the 
               denial of a certificate.









                                                                  AB 1127
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             g)   The practice of medicine from this state into another 
               state or country without meeting the legal requirements of 
               that state or country for the practice of medicine, as 
               specified.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Unknown

           COMMENTS  :   

           Purpose of this bill  .  According to the author's office, "After 
          an initial complaint is filed against a physician with the 
          Medical Board, the Board's first step is to interview the 
          physician to gather more background and determine the legitimacy 
          of the complaint.  Interviews require the presence of the 
          physician, investigator from the Medical Board, medical 
          consultant from the Medical Board, and a representative from the 
          Attorney General's office.  Multiple dates are suggested before 
          settling on a time that accommodates the physician's schedule.

          "Despite best practices by the Board to dismiss frivolous 
          complaints and pursue those that warrant formal accusations, 
          there have been documented delays in investigations as some 
          physicians have repeatedly and purposefully failed to appear 
          before the Board after scheduling interviews absent good cause.  
          This has resulted in cases being delayed between 60 days to over 
          one year.  Over the last three years, the Board has been forced 
          to issue 338 subpoenas to compel participation of these 
          physicians, wasting valuable staff time and department 
          resources."

           Background .  The MBC's disciplinary process requires the MBC, 
          after receiving a complaint against a licensee, to interview the 
          physician before moving forward to either close the case or take 
          disciplinary action.  If the physician refuses to appear for an 
          interview, the process comes to a halt.

          After the Legislature's 2001-02 sunset review of the MBC, SB 
          1950 (Figueroa), Chapter 1085, Statutes of 2002, required the 
          Director of Consumer Affairs to retain, by March 31, 2003, an 
          enforcement program monitor to evaluate the MBC's disciplinary 
          system for two years and report his or her findings to the 
          Legislature, the MBC, and the Department of Consumer Affairs 
          (DCA).

          In 2005, the MBC's enforcement program monitor released her 








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          final report that found, among other things, that MBC's case 
          processing times were unacceptably high and cited delays in 
          physician interviews as a contributing factor.  While the MBC 
          revised its interview policies and deadlines, the report noted 
          that the average number of days between the interview request 
          and the actual interview represents "a large portion of the 
          undesirable 259-day average investigative timeframe."

           Support  .  The MBC, sponsor of this bill, states, "The Board 
          believes that this bill will help to expedite the closure of 
          disciplinary cases by providing an incentive for physicians to 
          cooperate and participate in physician interviews...The Medical 
          Board believes this bill will significantly reduce the delays 
          that result from a physician failing to cooperate with the Board 
          by not participating in the physician interview."

           Previous legislation  .  SB 1950 (Figueroa), Chapter 1085, 
          Statutes of 2002, requires the Director of Consumer Affairs to 
          retain, by March 31, 2003, an enforcement program monitor to 
          evaluate the MBC's disciplinary system for two years and report 
          his or her findings to the Legislature, the MBC, and DCA.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          Medical Board of California (sponsor)
          Center for Public Interest Law

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Angela Mapp / B.,P. & C.P. / (916) 
          319-3301