Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger Answers: As a Physician, What Should I Do if I Receive a Subpoena Duces Tecum?

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At some point in your medical career, you will receive a subpoena. A subpoena is a formal, legal request for either a witnesses’ presence at a legal proceeding or for documents. A subpoena duces tecum is a request for documents. While receiving a subpoena may mean that there is a complaint or lawsuit about to be filed against you, it may also be more benign. Given the vast amount of information that passes through a physician’s office and the thousands of patients treated, it is not surprising that some of that information would be pertinent to a legal action. The question is whether that legal action will affect you and your license to practice medicine. Without the help of experienced counsel, it is difficult to know whether a subpoena duces tecum signals an impending lawsuit or just a routine request for information.

If you are physician in Kansas or Missouri and have received a subpoena, do not try to figure out the next steps alone. Instead, call attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with the legal process. Your career is simply worth too much to go forward without expert advice.

Important Parts of the Subpoena

The subpoena is a paper document with a “header” with the name of the issuing court, the names of the parties, and its court file number. The subpoena will also tell you what documents are requested, who is directed to produce them, and the deadline for production. Depending on the type of subpoena, it will usually request that you send the documents either to one of the attorneys or to a specified court address. There is a significant difference between in-state and out-of-state subpoenas; you are likely subject to the former, but out-of-state subpoenas may not be valid or enforceable. You should seek the help of experienced counsel to determine whether the subpoena you received in valid before responding to it.

Discovery vs. Trial Subpoenas

Subpoenas are either issued by one of the lawyers involved in a case or the clerk of a courthouse. Subpoenas decus tecum are either “discovery subpoenas” or “trial subpoenas.”  The former, discovery subpoenas, are issued when one party needs “discovery” or information as it prepares for trial. The latter, trial subpoenas, are issued when one party intends to present the requested material in court. Both subpoenas carry the force of law, meaning that regardless of which type of subpoena you receive, you have an obligation to provide it unless there is some legal bar to doing so. The main difference between the two is the level of reliability. Specifically, trial subpoenas must usually be certified copies, signed by the physician who created them or the head of a medical clinic or hospital. By comparison, discovery subpoenas can just be photocopies.

What is the Required Response Time?

The response time for producing documents requested by a subpoena decus tecum can vary widely. Discovery subpoenas are casual, and attorneys seeking them are usually requesting material from a wide variety of sources; they usually have thirty-day response time or longer. Trial subpoenas, on the other hand, are for documents that are needed quickly for a hearing or trial. They may have a much shorter response time, sometimes as short as a day or two, but usually three days.

Contact an Experienced Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Now

You deserve to be practicing medicine without the fear. Contacting an experienced licensing attorney when you receive a subpoena decus tecum or any other legal correspondence. Experienced counsel can help put your concerns to rest and help you respond to the subpoena in a manner that protects your interests.

If you are a physician in Kansas or Missouri and are worried about misconduct costing you your career, call attorney Sanger now.

Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger is prepared to advocate for your best interests and defend your livelihood. Call Attorney Sanger at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with physician licensing issues.

Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger Discusses: DEA Ramps Up Enforcement to Deal with Opioids

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If you are licensed medical professional in Kansas or Missouri facing an investigation by the DEA, call attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation. Your career is at risk and you cannot work your way through this alone.

How Will the DEA Contact Me?

As someone who holds a controlled substances registration, you have to comply with the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Violations of the CSA are severe. Civil penalties include substantial fines and the loss of the ability to distribute controlled substances. Criminal penalties also include fines, but may also include jail time. Parallel to both of those federal processes is usually a Kansas or Missouri state process to revoke or suspend the person’s license to practice medicine, nursing, pharmacy, or other medical professions.

If you hold a registration and are under a DEA investigation, you may not even know it.  They may just arrive at your place of business or home with agents and state licensing officials. If you are subject to this sort of unannounced visit, it is likely because the DEA is serving a warrant to seize records and inspect the premises. DEA agents may want to interview you and your staff during their visit; in this situation, you will want to call counsel immediately, as it is rarely, if ever, a good idea to speak with law enforcement without the help of counsel present. The DEA may also demand that you surrender your registration at this point. Again, it is rarely advisable to simply give in to these demands without first discussing the situation with your attorney.

The DEA’s involvement in your practice is not always so dramatic, however. The DEA also engages in routine audits, where you will be notified beforehand that your records will be reviewed, your practices scrutinized, and employees interviewed. This is still a very serious situation that you should not try to go through alone. Even a routine DEA audit can leave to a revocation of your registration and loss of your license to practice. If you are contacted by the DEA for a routine audit, you will need the help of experienced counsel to help prepare records for submission.

Contact an Experienced Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Now

Any medical provider or clinic in Kansas or Missouri contacted by the DEA should contact experienced counsel immediately. Your business and license to practice are in jeopardy, and those initial moments are crucial. “Playing along” or talking to the DEA may seem like the easy way to go, but it may not be in your best interest. Contacting an experienced licensing attorney to help you through this process and can mean the difference between getting back to helping your patients and a suspension or revocation of your license.

If you are a medical professional in Kansas or Missouri and are worried about an audit or misconduct costing you your career, call attorney Sanger now.

Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger is prepared to advocate for your best interests and defend you. Call Attorney Sanger at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with licensing issues.

Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger Answers: How Do I Defend My Medical License from a False Sex Assault Claim?

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Given the rise of the “#metoo” era, I am contacted by physicians concerned about false allegations of sexual assault. As a physician, your license to practice in Kansas or Missouri is the product of a lifetime of education and hard work, so it is terrifying to think that a false misconduct allegation could quickly take your livelihood away. Physicians are particularly vulnerable to this sort of claim, as they frequently see patients privately, examine patients’ genitalia, and often see patients in situations requiring the patient to be at least partially undressed. When you couple those facts with the recent controversy regarding a physician’s outrageous abuse of gymnasts who sought his treatment at Michigan State University and patients’ varying degrees of mental stability, it is not hard to imagine how false claims arise.

If you are physician in Kansas or Missouri facing professional discipline, you must avoid going through the administrative hearing alone. Instead, call attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with the administrative process required to defend you. Your career is simply worth too much to go it alone.

Expert defense of your license in Kansas or Missouri is the key to continuing your entire career. Without it, you stand to lose your practice, your financial security and your reputation.

Criminal, Civil, and Administrative Matters

There is a significant difference between criminal, civil, and administrative investigations into an allegation of sexual assault.  The problem is that they all overlap and influence each other, so you need an attorney to make sure that a success in one venue does not have the unintended consequence of harming you in another.

A criminal case is investigated by the police and prosecuted by the district attorney or prosecutor. If you have watched crime shows on television, you are familiar with this sort of investigation. Ultimately, a criminal investigation for sexual assault has penalties that include jail and fines. To prove a criminal case, the district attorney must prove his or her case “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

A civil case is a lawsuit between two individuals. A former patient could sue you and he or she would have an attorney that would present the case on their behalf. A civil case has a lower standard of proof, and a plaintiff only has to prove sexual assault “by a preponderance of the evidence” or just over 50%. Penalties are financial.

An administrative case is a hybrid of criminal and civil matters. It is brought by the state and prosecuted by an attorney general.  The case uses “preponderance” standard, but the penalties are financial and the suspension or revocation of a medical license.

The Problem When Criminal, Civil, or Administrative Matters Overlap

Often, when a physician is facing either a criminal, civil, or administrative investigation, the inquiry will result in one of the other processes being triggered as well.  You likely have heard the phrase “you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law” if you have ever watched a crime drama. The same is true here and can be disastrous if not heeded.

For example, imagine a former patient filed criminal charges against her doctor for sexual assault. Sexual assault is commonly defined as using force or coercion to engage non-consensual sexual intercourse with another person. In the course of the police investigation, the doctor may defend himself by saying that while he did have sex with the patient in his office, it was consensual. Follow up visits from the patient could may establish that she was not afraid of the doctor and wanted to continue the relationship.

Imagine that the prosecutor believed the physician above and dropped the charges. While that is a good outcome in the criminal case, it may be extremely problematic in ensuing action to suspend the physician’s license. The doctor’s admission to consensual sex with a patient under his care may be used against him in the administrative matter and may lead to a suspension, revocation, or other penalty. The admission may also come back to haunt the physician if the patient either sues him for sexual assault civilly, which has a lower burden of proof, or for some sort of infliction of emotional harm.

Accordingly, you need to understand that criminal, civil, and administrative processes all overlap in ways that may not be intuitive. If you are facing discipline in any one of these areas, you need expert help from a licensing attorney immediately.

Contact an Experienced Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Now

You deserve to be practicing medicine without the fear. Contacting an experienced licensing attorney to help you through any of these processes can mean the difference between getting back to your practice quickly and a suspension or revocation.

If you are a physician in Kansas or Missouri and are worried about misconduct costing you your career, call attorney Sanger now.

Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger is prepared to advocate for your best interests and defend your livelihood and career. Call Attorney Sanger at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with physician licensing issues.

Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger Answers: How Do I Respond to a Peer Review of Your Hospital Privileges?

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When there is an adverse outcome of a procedure or a medical professional’s patient files a complaint, the result may be the hospital’s peer review process. The peer review process is different at each hospital and is different depending on the allegation. The process can vary widely, ranging from a short-term look at the event in question to an in-depth review of your practices and records. If handled well, a peer review is just an annoyance. If handled poorly, it can cost you your right to practice at that hospital and a National Practitioner Data Bank Report, which can end a career. Accordingly, the peer review process must always be taken seriously.

If you are medical professional in Kansas or Missouri facing a peer review of your hospital privileges, you should not go through this process alone. Instead, call  Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with the administrative process required to defend you. Your career is simply worth too much to go it alone. Because I am frequently asked about the hospital peer review process, I have made a list of answers to common questions:

Be honest and tell the truth. If you misrepresent facts, it is likely that your deceit will be discovered. Lying is often punished more seriously than the underlying act that brought about the review. Assume that those reviewing your actions have more facts than you do.

Stick to the facts. Do not guess regarding facts you are unaware of; similarly, do not assume or guess at other witnesses’ motives. Do not try to make your response about why someone would have said something; rather, focus on why you took whatever action you did.

If you do not have the facts, say so. If your answer would be more complete if you had access to records, request them.

If given an opportunity to provide an explanation, always respond.  Your response should be accurate, thorough, and professional. Attain legal help to make sure your response is appropriate and avoids any sarcastic, angry, or accusatory tone.

Do not use the opportunity to respond as a chance to call out or make claims about other medical professionals’ actions. The peer review is only about your behavior as a professional, and claims or complaints about others will come across as improper deflection.

Rely on medical journals and professional standards. If you took a certain action for a certain reason, provide evidence from journal articles or professional standards that supports your decision. Do the peer review committee’s work for them and attach copies of the articles for their review. Similarly, if the hospital has published rules or protocols, rely on them in your response. Try to tie each of your actions to a rule, standard of care, or both.

Contact an Experienced Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Now

The peer review process is uncomfortable, but does not have to be fatal to your career.  You deserve to be working as a medical professional without the fear. Contacting an experienced licensing attorney to help you through any of these processes can mean the difference between getting back to your practice quickly and a suspension or revocation of your privileges.

If you are a physician in Kansas or Missouri and are worried about a hospital peer review costing you your career, call attorney Sanger now.

Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger is prepared to advocate for your best interests and defend your livelihood and career. Call Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Sanger at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with medical professional licensing issues.