Philadelphia Healthcare Licensing Blog

If someone accuses a Pennsylvania doctor of misconduct, he or she may immediately suffer a serious job security risk. Not every accusation of wrongdoing is accurate or true, however. It is unfortunate that false accusations can have long-term, far-reaching negative effects on a physician's career. Physician license defense is a key factor to overcoming legal problems that arise in the medical workplace, which threaten suspension or revocation of a license to practice medicine.

There are several ways physicians can lessen the likelihood of allegations of misconduct on the job. First, if a doctor must examine a private area of a patient's body, he or she can insist that a third party be present to serve as a chaperone/witness. In some cases, a doctor may be justified in requesting more than one chaperone, such as if the patient in question has expressed that he or she is uncomfortable or nervous about being examined.

There is stringent protocol in place in most Pennsylvania hospitals that help doctors and nurses keep patients in need of medication as safe as possible. Long ago, doctors wrote medication orders on pads of paper, and nurses carried out those orders. Nowadays, everything is computerized although digital medication orders are typically read by multiple staff members before a nurse finally dispenses and administers the medical in question. A license board in another state has stepped in and suspended a physician on suspicion that he was either negligently or purposely overdosing patients on fentanyl.

The doctor isn't the only one facing repercussions because of a situation where more many patients in the same hospital have died over a period of time. All of the patients had been treated by the same doctor. They were all also medicated with fentanyl in addition to other drugs in some cases.

After completing many years of education and perhaps research, you may feel you have earned the respect and consideration of your colleagues as well as others on the medical staff where you work. You may be proud of your knowledge in your field and have little tolerance for those who do not give their full effort and attention to the serious work of practicing medicine.

With that being said, you may not be surprised when others take offense at your comments. When you offer criticism or instruction on how nurses or physicians can improve the quality of care they provide, you may hope they accept your words in the spirit in which you offer them and for the wellbeing of the patients. Unfortunately, you may find yourself accused of disruptive behavior.

Most Pennsylvania hospitals have neonatal intensive care units that provide specialized care to newborn infants.  There are typically several nurses working in a NICU at once, working as a team to provide care and treatment for a hospital's youngest patients. Several incidents in a hospital in another state have resulted in a nurse having his medical license suspended. He is also facing criminal charges. 

The nurse has had his practice privileges suspended at the hospital, which led to the suspension of his nursing license. Separately, he is headed to trial on criminal charges that he intentionally abused some of the patients in his care. Several of the infants who had been admitted to the NICU where the nurse was reportedly employed and on duty at the time suffered unexplained bruises, broken bones and even a skull fracture while they were there.