If your medical license is subject to discipline in one state, reciprocal discipline can be meted out in other states in which you hold a license. New York is no exception.
New York State Education § 6530 Definitions of Professional Misconduct
§ 6530. Definitions of professional misconduct. Each of the following is professional misconduct, and any licensee found guilty of such misconduct under the procedures prescribed in section two hundred thirty of the public health law shall be subject to penalties as prescribed in section two hundred thirty-a of the public health law except that the charges may be dismissed in the interest of justice:
- 9(d) Having his or her license to practice medicine revoked, suspended or having other disciplinary action taken, or having his or her application for a license refused, revoked or suspended or having voluntarily or otherwise surrendered his or her license after a disciplinary action was instituted by a duly authorized professional disciplinary agency of another state, where the conduct resulting in the revocation, suspension or other disciplinary action involving the license or refusal, revocation or suspension of an application for a license or the surrender of the license would, if committed in New York state, constitute professional misconduct under the laws of New York state.
No surprise there. If one state slaps you on the wrist, NY can do likewise, assuming the underlying offense would be sanctionable in NY.
But here’s the rub. Your license in NY never expires. You are licensed for life. Yes, you need to register (and file an application for renewal/pay the fee) each renewal cycle to practice medicine. But your license is perpetual.
From the NY State Education Department, Office of Professions Website:
Does my Professional License expire?
No. Your professional license does not expire. Licensure is for life unless suspended, revoked, or annulled for reasons of misconduct. To practice any profession in New York State, a licensee must be currently registered. Approximately four months before your registration expires, you will be sent a Registration Renewal Document and PIN with instructions on how to renew your registration to practice. Registration renewals can be completed on our Registration website.
If you are not practicing your profession or not currently using your title in New York State, you may place your registration in Inactive status free of charge. To do so, you must advise the Office of the Professions of your decision to inactivate your registration. In the event you decide to resume practice during an inactive period, you must re-register your license and meet any post-licensure requirements applicable to your profession. Inactivating a registration and re-activating a registration can be completed on our Registration website.
What’s the rationale for lifelong jurisdiction?
The New York Department of Health’s rationale is to ensure ongoing public protection, as a physician’s professional misconduct can have lasting, severe consequences for patients. This allows the state to address serious offenses like gross negligence, criminal activity, sexual misconduct, and substance abuse, even if they occurred many years in the past. Maintaining this authority is crucial for upholding the integrity of the medical profession and ensuring patient safety over the long term.
If, for example, a physician licensed in another state wanted to return to NY, his past disciplinary record would be taken into account.
Still, is lifelong jurisdiction necessary?
Of course not. If this hypothetical doctor wanted to return to NY to practice, the application could merely ask about past disciplinary actions. And the answers could be checked against the National Practitioner Data Bank.
The practical problems that emerge from lifelong licensure include the hypothetical doctor being unaware that NY is taking any action.
One step in a NY action is sending notice to the doctor. For example, ”A Notice of Referral Proceeding and Statement of Charges dated January 3, 2025; were duly served upon XXXX, M.D. (Respondent).”
It follows this paradigm.
PHL § 230(10)(d)(i): Service of charges and of notice of hearing. A copy of the charges and the notice of the hearing shall be served on the licensee personally by the board at least twenty days before the hearing. If personal service cannot be made after due diligence and such fact is certified under oath, a copy of the charges and the notice of hearing shall be served by registered or certified mail to the licensee’s last known address by the board at least fifteen days before the hearing.
Last known address?
If the doctor hasn’t practiced in NY in, say, twenty years, what are the odds the last known address is accurate?
Right.
So, the hearing will go on without the star respondent. And the outcome will likely be default reciprocal discipline (assuming the underlying offense causing discipline in another state would merit discipline in NY).
Then, another data entry ends up in the National Practitioner Data Bank.
Plus, if you’re unaware of this action, you likely won’t disclose it on other applications for license renewal, hospital credentialing, applications for in-network status for insurance carriers, etc. You’d have to do a routine NPDB self-query each year to be kept up to date on “mystery disciplinary actions.”
Do all states treat licensure as lifelong, allowing disciplinary action for events and discipline in other states?
No. But they’d retain jurisdiction to consider disciplinary action if the physician reapplies in that state down the road.
Is there a statute of limitations for Board actions?
It depends. If you were licensed in a state while the alleged event occurred, the Board can take its time. But there are often limits:
Take, California:
By law, the Board cannot take disciplinary action on matters that took place more than seven years ago, except in cases involving sexual misconduct, care and treatment provided to a minor, or intentional concealment of unprofessional conduct.
Plus California only has three years to file charges once it learns of the act.
Similar in Minnesota:
Minnesota Statutes Health (Ch. 144-159) § 147.091. Grounds for disciplinary action
A board review or investigation of a regulated person must not be initiated unless the board has received a complaint or report within seven years from the date of the commission of some portion of the conduct complained of or reported on except for alleged violations of subdivision 1, paragraph (t)”.
(Paragraph (t) refers to sexual misconduct, for which there is no statute of limitations.)
How about Texas?
There is a seven-year statute of limitations on patient care complaints. The only exception is if the patient is a minor, then the statute of limitations is the later of the date that the minor becomes 21 years of age or the seventh anniversary of the treatment at issue.
The patient can file a complaint whenever they want, but the Board’s hands are tied regarding when it can initiate an investigation or file charges.
Florida? 6 years.
Is there a time limit for filing a complaint?
Yes, generally the statute of limitations (SOL) is six years from the last date of treatment. This means the entire investigation and finding of probable cause needs to be completed prior to the expiration of the SOL. However, there are exceptions. You may file a complaint that is over six years old, but it may be closed. For more information regarding statute of limitations, please review section 456.073(13), FS.
Back to New York. Once you receive a NY medical license, you are licensed for life. At least with respect to its Board of Medicine being able to investigate and pursue action for past misconduct.
Let’s put this in context.
A scant few criminal offenses have no statute of limitations.
Murder leads the list of crimes with no time limits for prosecution. First-degree murder, capital murder, and most forms of intentional killing can be charged at any point. Many states add serious sex crimes to this category, especially those involving children. Federal offenses like terrorism, treason, and espionage also have no deadline.
And, if you’ve ever held a NY state medical license, it has the authority to take disciplinary action decades later.
What do you think?
