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.

Physical therapists often contact me with concerns about misconduct allegations that may threaten their license to engage in their livelihood. As a physical therapist in Kansas or Missouri, your license to practice is the product of your dedication to education and hard work—but is only allowed by your licensure. As a result of your perseverance and license, you now have the ability to engage in a meaningful, respected, and lucrative career. But what if your physical therapy is threatened by suspension or revocation? You could lose your ability to practice and provide for your family if you are not aware of the sort of misconduct that can result in a psychology license suspension in Kansas or Missouri.

If you are licensed physical therapist in Kansas or Missouri facing professional discipline, you cannot go 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.

Misconduct Examples

Obviously, the first step to avoiding any threat to your license is to not engage in misconduct. Unfortunately, physical therapy clients sometimes call me about types of misconduct that they were unaware of.  As a result, I have come up with the following list of some of the most common misconduct allegations that I have seen while representing physical therapy clients in Kansas and Missouri.

Revealing client or patient’s personal or treatment information without prior consent;

Engaging in a sexual relationship with a client in the midst of the therapist/client relationship;

Taking, giving, or soliciting referral fees from other medical providers;

Failing to adequately supervise employees working under the physical therapist’s license or unlawfully delegating a physical therapist’s duties to a person unqualified or uncertified to perform those duties;

Promoting goods, services, drugs, applicants or any other device for the physical therapist’s personal gain;

Defrauding patients or insurance companies by providing excessive or unnecessary treatments;

Filing false insurance claims;

Engaging in false advertising or exaggerating qualifications in advertising;

Failing to keep adequate patient records;

Overcharging for physical therapy services or continuing services beyond what is necessary to help a patient.

The Administrative Hearing

For physical therapists in Kansas and Missouri, a discipline hearing will be initiated based on an initial allegation of misconduct and some fact-finding by the administrative agency. Any one of the above allegations, if proven, is sufficient to suspend or revoke a physical therapy license. Additional penalties, such as fines and requirements for additional training, are also possible.

Too many physical therapists misunderstand this step in the process and just accept whatever penalty is proposed. My experience suggests that presenting a vigorous challenge to the evidence presented at an administrative hearing almost always reduces the penalties from what was initially proposed and frequently results in a complete dismissal of charges.

Contact an Experienced Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Now

You deserve to be practicing physical therapy without the fear of administrative discipline. Contacting an experienced licensing attorney to help you through this process can mean the difference between getting back to your clients and a suspension or revocation of your license.

If you are a physical therapist 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 physical therapy licensing issues.

A dental career is the product of a lifetime of education and hard work. As a result of your drive, you have the ability to engage in a meaningful, well respected, and lucrative career. But what if your dental license lapses, is suspended or is revoked? What steps do you need to take to return to your chosen profession? If you are a Kansas or Missouri dentist seeking to be reinstated call attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with the reinstatement of dental licenses. 

Reinstating a Dental License in Kansas or Missouri

A dentist’s license can be suspended, expired, or revoked for a number of reasons. If it is simply lapsed because the dentist moved out of state or wanted to change professions, it will likely be less of a task to reinstate than if the license is suspended or revoked as a result of misconduct.

If your license was suspended or revoked as a result of misconduct, beyond the normal reinstatement steps, you likely also have to complete whatever terms that the state Dental Board wrote into your sanction. Whether that was a certain length of suspension without incident, certification that you are no longer drug or alcohol dependent, or proof that your record or billing is now being handled by a responsible third party, you will have to prove that you have fulfilled these obligations by submitting thorough documentation in addition to the normal reinstatement steps.

Time is also a factor. As you can imagine, if your license has been inactive for twenty years, there will be a legitimate concern that you are no longer proficient. As a result, there is a different process for reinstating your license depending on the length of time your license has been expired, suspended or revoked.

Short-Term Inactivity

If your dentistry license has been inactive for any reason for less than five years, the process for reinstatement is less burdensome than if it has been inactive longer than five years. You will need to submit documentation proving that you have had 48 hours of continuing education in the past three years and pay an application fee.

Long-Term Inactivity 

If more than five years have passed since your license was active, then you will have to show that you have practiced in some other jurisdiction for three out of the last five years or an affidavit of military service. Additionally, you will have to produce documentation of 48 hours of continuing education within the last three years and a certification of basic life support training by the American Heart Association or American Red Cross.

Reinstatement After Military Service

The above requirements do not apply if you are applying to reinstate your license after military service. So long as your application for reinstatement is made within two years, you will be automatically reinstated without any fees or requirements.

Contact an Experienced Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Now

You deserve to be practicing dentistry again and should not let your inactive Kansas or Missouri dental license stop you. Contact an experienced licensing attorney help you through the reinstatement process can mean the difference between getting back to work quickly and a drawn-out process. 

False claims of sexual misconduct arise against medical professionals, and those claims jeopardize your professional licensure. Whether you are a doctor, a nurse, or physical therapist, your license is critical to your livelihood. While it took you years to attain your license, a claim of sexual misconduct can it can be taken from you in an instant because of a false claim. But why would someone make a false claim against you?

Before answering this question, it’s critical to understand that if a claim of sexual misconduct is made against you, you must retain experienced licensing counsel immediately. Given their nature, there is often little or no physical evidence supporting these claims, so having a skilled attorney that can attack your accuser’s motives and credibility is vital. Attorney Sanger has represented hundreds of medical professionals in Kansas and Missouri and is the sort of advocate you need by your side if your licensure is threatened.

Revenge or Refusal to Perform Illegal Procedures

Patients sometimes ask their medical professionals to lie on their behalf. Whether the lie is to extend a disability benefit that they no longer have a right to or to access painkillers that they no longer need, some patients have a motive to get a medical professional to cheat the system and provide them with undue benefits. If the medical professional refuses, the patient threatens or makes an allegation to attain leverage or revenge. Obviously, any such requests by patients need to be refused. Your refusal should be documented should your actions or credibility need to be established later.

Self-Gratification

Being sexually attracted to other people is normal. Patients sometimes proposition medical professionals sexually. Hopefully, the professional possesses the requisite level of character to refuse such offers. Unfortunately, while the medical professional acted appropriately, the refusal can anger the patient, who then makes a claim out of self-gratification.  That means that the claim is driven by either retaliation for being rebuked or the fantasy of a mentally unstable patient. If a patient propositions you sexually, it is again important to document the proposition and refusal in case a subsequent false claim arises.

Money

False claims of sexual misconduct sometimes arise because the patient believes the medical provider will pay them to be quiet or go away. There is a common perception that medical providers have money to burn, so some patients believe that their false claims could result in a high dollar payout. Even if you could pay your way out of the problem, however, you are just prolonging the problem. A patient paid once will return for more later. This is never a satisfactory way of dealing with a claim of sexual misconduct. The payment themselves will make you look guilty, and there is still no reason the patient cannot make a formal claim of misconduct.

With the help of experienced counsel, you can successfully defend your license from a claim of sexual misconduct. But trying to deal with the situation informally or on your own will likely end in disaster. Only an experienced licensing attorney can protect your licensure as a medical professional and your livelihood.

If you are a medical professional in Kansas or Missouri and are facing a claim of sexual misconduct, call Danielle Sanger today.

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 today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an experienced and aggressive attorney for medical professionals.

As a licensed professional, you have the ability to achieve great mobility. You can practice in multiple states at once or move from state to state based on where you are licensed. That tremendous freedom can be cut short, however, by allegations of misconduct. When allegations of misconduct arise, simply abandoning a license in one state with a plan to rely on a license held in another is not a viable plan. Resolving those issues can mean the difference between practicing in the state of your desire and being unemployed.  Retaining a highly qualified professional licensing attorney can be that difference.

Often a client will have a license in a state, say New York, and have a licensure problem. Licensure problems should not be a source of shame, as some arise from fans accusations while others arise from simple human error. Whether due to embarrassment, ignorance of the discipline process, or a feeling of not wanting to be bothered by dealing with the allegations, they give up the license or let it lapse and move to a new state and renew their professional life there.

As a professional licensing attorney, Ms. Sanger often has the unfortunate task of telling clients that licenses can follow them forever, even if they have lapsed elsewhere. The granting state continues to have professional jurisdiction over those they license, even those no longer practicing in the state. Continuing to have professional jurisdiction means that those states continue to have the ability to discipline you, even for misconduct occurring out of state. That ability does not end and follows licensees throughout their career.

Lapsed licenses in other states are an issue because of a concept called “reciprocal discipline” which means that discipline in one state follows the licensee to whatever other state they are licensed in. If you are disciplined in one state, that is usually a violation of the professional code in any other state you are licensed in. This problem is not solved by time—it does not matter that the conduct in question was proven or that it occurred a decade before.

Unfortunately, too many people choose to bury their head in the sand and pretend these problems do not exist. These poorly informed people hope that their licensure problems will go away simply by not bringing it up on the application the next time they apply for licensure. This is a major mistake, as failure to disclose past licensure issues is itself a violation of most states. This compounds licensees’ problems, as they basically infected their new license with problems from their old one.

Problems involving your license, whether they occurred a decade ago, occurred here in Kansas or Missouri, or occurred in your home state pose a problem for you now. Cleaning of those old problems and dealing with the problems surrounding your old license is the first step. Fixing any problems with your current or active licensure is the next step. These are not tasks for you to take on alone. Seemingly innocuous statements you make can be used against you.  You need a skilled licensing attorney by your side to protect your career, livelihood, and future.

Call Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney today at (785)-979-4353 to protect your professional license. Attorney Danielle Sanger is an experienced Kansas and Missouri licensing attorney and has the experience to both resolve your lingering licensure issues and walk you through your current licensing process. She has the experience to deal with licensing bodies, appear before administrative boards, and provide clients with the advice to best position themselves professionally.