As the holder of a Pennsylvania medical license, certificate, registration or permit, you may be unaware that Pennsylvania passed a new law in 2018 changing what you must report to the State Board of Medicine and when you must report it. The new Act likewise applies to you if you hold an osteopathic license, certificate, registration or permit from the State Board of Osteopathic Medicine.
As explained by the Pennsylvania Medical Society, Act 6 of 2018 took effect on April 16, 2018, and substantially amends the previous law.
Reporting obligation
If you hold a Pennsylvania medical or osteopathic license, certificate, registration or permit, you must, within 30 days of its occurrence, report to the your appropriate licensing board any disciplinary action that a licensing agency in another jurisdiction takes against you.
You must likewise report any of the following that occur in Pennsylvania to your appropriate licensing board within 30 days of their occurrence:
- Any conviction you receive for a misdemeanor or felony
- Any guilty plea you make to a misdemeanor or felony charge
- Any nolo contendere plea, i.e., acceptance of conviction without admitting guilt, you make to a misdemeanor or felony charge
- Any probation without verdict sentence you receive for a first-time misdemeanor drug offense
- Any disposition in lieu of trial you receive for a nonviolent misdemeanor or felony offense
- Any accelerated rehabilitative disposition you receive for a first-time nonviolent misdemeanor or felony offense
Opportunity for expungement
The new law also grants you the right to apply, in writing, to your appropriate licensing board for expungement from your record of any licensure disciplinary violation your record currently reflects.
