(a)  Any person, firm, corporation, or public officer may submit a written complaint to the board charging the holder of a license to practice podiatry or a limited registrant with unprofessional conduct, specifying the grounds for the charge. The board shall review all complaints and it shall make a written finding of facts with regard to the complaint. All complaints considered by the board or an investigating committee of the board shall be reported within six (6) months of the receipt of the complaint unless the board, on a case-by-case basis, for good cause shown in writing, extends the time for consideration. Failure to report does not divest the board of its jurisdiction to pursue the rights and remedies set forth in this chapter. If the board determines that the complaint merits consideration, or if the board, on its own initiative without a formal complaint, has reason to believe that any holder of a license or limited registration to practice podiatry is guilty of unprofessional conduct, the board shall investigate.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-29-17

  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • unprofessional conduct: as used in this chapter includes, but is not limited to, the following items or any combination of them and may be further defined by regulations established by the board with the approval of the director:

    (1)  Fraudulent or deceptive procuring or use of a license of limited registration;

    (2)  All advertising of podiatry business that is intended or has a tendency to deceive the public;

    (3)  Conviction of a felony, or conviction of a crime arising out of the practice of podiatry;

    (4)  Abandonment of a patient;

    (5)  Dependence upon a controlled substance, habitual drunkenness, or rendering professional services to a patient while the podiatrist or limited registrant is intoxicated or incapacitated by the use of drugs;

    (6)  Promotion by a podiatrist or limited registrant of the sale of drugs, devices, appliances, or goods or services provided for a patient in a manner that exploits the patient for the financial gain of the podiatrist or limited registrant;

    (7)  Immoral conduct of a podiatrist or limited registrant in the practice of podiatry;

    (8)  Willfully making and filing false reports or records in the practice of podiatry;

    (9)  Willful omission to file or record, or willfully impeding or obstructing a filing or recording, or inducing another person to omit to file or record podiatry/medical or other reports as required by law;

    (10)  Failure to furnish details of a patient's medical record to a succeeding podiatrist or medical facility upon proper request pursuant to this chapter;

    (11)  Solicitation of professional patronage by agents or persons or profiting from acts of those representing themselves to be agents of the licensed podiatrist or limited registrant;

    (12)  Division of fees or agreeing to split or divide the fees received for professional services for any person for bringing to or referring a patient;

    (13)  Agreeing with clinical or bioanalytical laboratories to accept payments from those laboratories for individual tests or test series for patients, or agreeing with podiatry laboratories to accept payment from those laboratories for work referred;

    (14)  Willful misrepresentation in treatment;

    (15)  Practicing podiatry with an unlicensed podiatrist except in accordance with the rules and regulations of the board, or aiding or abetting those unlicensed persons in the practice of podiatry;

    (16)  Gross and willful overcharging for professional services, including filing of false statements for collection of fees for which services are not rendered or willfully making or assisting in making a false claim or deceptive claim or misrepresenting a material fact for use in determining rights to podiatric care or other benefits;

    (17)  Offering, undertaking, or agreeing to cure or treat disease by a secret method, procedure, treatment, or medicine;

    (18)  Professional or mental incompetence;

    (19)  Incompetent, negligent, or willful misconduct in the practice of podiatry that includes the rendering of unnecessary podiatry services and any departure from or the failure to conform to the minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing podiatry practice in his or her area of expertise as is determined by the board. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-29-16

(b)  Investigations shall remain confidential and all initial hearings, investigatory hearings, and full hearings before the board shall remain confidential. All decisions of the board shall set forth conclusions of fact and conclusions of law applicable to the decision that it has rendered. The board shall make public all decisions, including findings of fact and conclusions of law, that set forth any sanction against a license holder.

History of Section.
P.L. 1988, ch. 274, § 2.