BILL NUMBER: AB 501	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Emmerson

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to add Section 2088 to the Business and Professions Code,
relating to medicine.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 501, as introduced, Emmerson. Physicians and surgeons: limited
license.
   Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, provides for the licensure
and regulation of physicians and surgeons by the Medical Board of
California. Existing law authorizes the board to issue a probationary
license subject to specified terms and conditions, including
restrictions against engaging in certain types of medical practice.
Existing law authorizes a licensee who demonstrates that he or she
unable to practice medicine due to a disability to request a waiver
of the license renewal fee. Under existing law, a licensee granted
that waiver is prohibited from practicing medicine until he or she
establishes that the disability no longer exists or signs an
agreement, under penalty of perjury, agreeing to limit his or her
practice in the manner prescribed by the reviewing physician.
   This bill would authorize an applicant for a license who is
otherwise eligible for a license but is unable to practice some
aspects of medicine safely due to a disability to receive a limited
license if the applicant pays the license fee and signs an agreement,
under penalty of perjury, agreeing to limit his or her practice in
the manner prescribed by the reviewing physician and agreed by the
board. By requiring that the agreement be signed under penalty of
perjury, the bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing
a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the board
to require the applicant to obtain an independent clinical evaluation
of his or her ability to practice medicine safely as a condition of
receiving the limited license.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 2088 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
   2088.  (a) An applicant for a physician's and surgeon's license
who is otherwise eligible for that license but is unable to practice
some aspects of medicine safely due to a disability may receive a
limited license if he or she does both of the following:
   (1) Pays the initial license fee.
   (2) Signs an agreement on a form prescribed by the board, signed
under penalty of perjury, in which the applicant agrees to limit his
or her practice in the manner prescribed by the reviewing physician
and agreed to by the board.
   (b) The board may require the applicant described in subdivision
(a) to obtain an independent clinical evaluation of his or her
ability to practice medicine safely as a condition of receiving a
limited license under this section.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.