Riley Bennett Egloff Magazine July Magazine | Page 16

Summary Medical License Suspensions:
High Stakes - Low Due Process Requirements
By: Drake T. Land, RBE Attorney
Originally Published April 2018
I
n extreme circumstances, the boards and committees regulating
licensed medical and healthcare professionals may suspend a
practitioner’s license before an administrative complaint is filed
or a hearing on an administrative complaint is held. This form of
suspension is known as summary suspension. In order for a board to
summarily suspend a license, the board must find that the practitioner
“represents a clear and immediate danger to the public health and
safety if the practitioner is allowed to continue to practice.”
Summary suspensions, frequently called “emergency suspensions,”
are prosecuted by the Office of the Indiana Attorney General (“OAG”)
when an OAG or law enforcement investigation determines that a
practitioner is currently unsafe to practice but a final adjudication on
the practitioner’s license cannot be had either because: (1) investigation
into the full licensure charges is ongoing; or (2) an administrative
complaint has been filed but is not set for hearing at the next possible
hearing date.
A Petition for Summary Suspension initiates the summary suspension
proceeding and provides the first notice to the practitioner. Although a Petition for Summary Suspension can
be filed for any violation endangering the public, summary suspensions are most commonly filed in relation to
allegations of drug diversion, patient abuse, sexual misconduct, or failure to successfully complete professional
substance abuse monitoring. When a Petition for Summary Suspension is filed with the board regulating the
practitioner’s license, a hearing on the Petition will be set at the next available hearing date.
A summary suspension order immediately restricts a practitioner’s ability to practice within the State of Indiana.
Despite the severity of this remedy, the due process requirements regarding notification to the practitioner are
surprisingly limited. The OAG is only required to make a “reasonable attempt” to notify the practitioner that
a summary suspension hearing will take place and of the allegation(s) against the practitioner. A “reasonable
attempt” to contact the practitioner is made if the OAG “attempts to reach the practitioner by telephone or
facsimile at the last telephone number of the practitioner on file with the board.” Thus, an unanswered fax
or telephone call to the practitioner on the day of the hearing satisfies the notice requirements for a summary
suspension. Further, “a court may not stay or vacate a summary suspension of a practitioner’s license for the
sole reason that the practitioner was not notified.” Moreover, due to the emergency nature of the action, no
continuances are granted once the summary suspension hearing is set.
“[T]he practitioner may not petition the board for a delay of the summary suspension proceedings.”
A summary suspension order must contain a brief statement setting forth tthe facts justifying the entry of the
order. The order will remain in effect for ninety days, unless the board provides otherwise in the order. The
order may be renewed for successive ninety-day periods while the alleged emergency continues to exist. Each
renewal is heard by the board regulating the practitioner’s license at an additional summary suspension hearing.
A summary suspension can be continued indefinitely while the OAG, or other law enforcement agency, works
to develop its case against the practitioner.
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Riley Bennett Egloff LLP - April 2018