Florida Senate - 2015                                     SB 730
       
       
        
       By Senator Ring
       
       
       
       
       
       29-00185-15                                            2015730__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to disciplinary proceedings for health
    3         care practitioners; amending s. 456.073, F.S.;
    4         requiring the full Board of Medicine or the Board of
    5         Osteopathic Medicine to review certain complaints;
    6         providing that a third complaint alleging medical
    7         malpractice is evidence of probable cause; clarifying
    8         that multiple complaints alleging the same wrongful
    9         treatment of the same patient constitutes one
   10         complaint; providing an effective date.
   11          
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 456.073, Florida
   15  Statutes, is amended to read:
   16         456.073 Disciplinary proceedings.—Disciplinary proceedings
   17  for each board shall be within the jurisdiction of the
   18  department.
   19         (3) As an alternative to the provisions of subsections (1)
   20  and (2), when a complaint is received:,
   21         (a) The department may provide a licensee with a notice of
   22  noncompliance for an initial offense of a minor violation. Each
   23  board, or the department if there is no board, shall establish
   24  by rule those minor violations under this provision which do not
   25  endanger the public health, safety, and welfare and which do not
   26  demonstrate a serious inability to practice the profession.
   27  Failure of a licensee to take action in correcting the violation
   28  within 15 days after notice may result in the institution of
   29  regular disciplinary proceedings.
   30         (b) If it is the third complaint alleging medical
   31  malpractice against a licensee within a 10-year period, the
   32  complaint shall be sent to the full board for review. The
   33  existence of such complaint is evidence of probable cause. For
   34  purposes of this paragraph, complaints filed by different
   35  claimants against a licensee which allege the same wrongful
   36  treatment of the same patient constitutes one complaint.
   37         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.