HB 1553 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to complaints against health care
3	practitioners; amending s. 456.073, F.S.; providing that a
4	state prisoner must exhaust all available administrative
5	remedies before filing a complaint with the Department of
6	Health against a health care practitioner who is providing
7	health care services within the Department of Corrections;
8	providing an effective date.
9
10	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12	Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 456.073, Florida
13	Statutes, is amended to read:
14	456.073 Disciplinary proceedings.--Disciplinary
15	proceedings for each board shall be within the jurisdiction of
16	the department.
17	(1) The department, for the boards under its jurisdiction,
18	shall cause to be investigated any complaint that is filed
19	before it if the complaint is in writing, signed by the
20	complainant, and legally sufficient. A complaint filed by a
21	state prisoner against a health care practitioner employed by or
22	otherwise providing health care services within a facility of
23	the Department of Corrections is not legally sufficient unless
24	there is a showing that the prisoner complainant has exhausted
25	all available administrative remedies within the state
26	correctional system before filing the complaint.A complaint is
27	legally sufficient if it contains ultimate facts that show that
28	a violation of this chapter, of any of the practice acts
29	relating to the professions regulated by the department, or of
30	any rule adopted by the department or a regulatory board in the
31	department has occurred. In order to determine legal
32	sufficiency, the department may require supporting information
33	or documentation. The department may investigate, and the
34	department or the appropriate board may take appropriate final
35	action on, a complaint even though the original complainant
36	withdraws it or otherwise indicates a desire not to cause the
37	complaint to be investigated or prosecuted to completion. The
38	department may investigate an anonymous complaint if the
39	complaint is in writing and is legally sufficient, if the
40	alleged violation of law or rules is substantial, and if the
41	department has reason to believe, after preliminary inquiry,
42	that the violations alleged in the complaint are true. The
43	department may investigate a complaint made by a confidential
44	informant if the complaint is legally sufficient, if the alleged
45	violation of law or rule is substantial, and if the department
46	has reason to believe, after preliminary inquiry, that the
47	allegations of the complainant are true. The department may
48	initiate an investigation if it has reasonable cause to believe
49	that a licensee or a group of licensees has violated a Florida
50	statute, a rule of the department, or a rule of a board. Except
51	as provided in ss. 458.331(9), 459.015(9), 460.413(5), and
52	461.013(6), when an investigation of any subject is undertaken,
53	the department shall promptly furnish to the subject or the
54	subject's attorney a copy of the complaint or document that
55	resulted in the initiation of the investigation. The subject may
56	submit a written response to the information contained in such
57	complaint or document within 20 days after service to the
58	subject of the complaint or document. The subject's written
59	response shall be considered by the probable cause panel. The
60	right to respond does not prohibit the issuance of a summary
61	emergency order if necessary to protect the public. However, if
62	the secretary, or the secretary's designee, and the chair of the
63	respective board or the chair of its probable cause panel agree
64	in writing that such notification would be detrimental to the
65	investigation, the department may withhold notification. The
66	department may conduct an investigation without notification to
67	any subject if the act under investigation is a criminal
68	offense.
69	Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.