The Medical Board of California filed an Accusation against our client, a physician, alleging mental impairment (Business and Professions Code section 822.) This Accusation arose from a chain of events that led personnel issues to be blown out of proportion: First, personality conflicts led to our client's termination from employment. Second, mandatory reporting to the Medical Board (Business and Professions Code section 805) led to an investigation. Third, the investigator requested a psychiatric evaluation. Fourth, a Board appointed psychiatrist expressed the opinion that our client suffered from depression, but that he was safe to practice medicine. Unfortunately, the psychiatrist then speculated that our client could become unsafe to practice in the future. Finally, the Medical Board filed an accusation for disciplinary action based on the speculation of its reviewing psychiatrist.
We retained an independent expert to review the matter who determined that there were no objective, clinical findings to support the opinion that our client could become unsafe to practice medicine in the future. As a result, the Medical Board agreed to settle the case by public reprimand.