Chapter 11. Sanctioning Guidelines

This chapter establishes standards for use as a guide for the imposition of disciplinary sanctions against any Maryland licensed podiatrist, if after a hearing the Board finds that there are grounds under Health Occupations Article, §16-311, Annotated Code of Maryland, to place a licensee on probation, reprimand, suspend, fine, or revoke a license. The Board may consider aggravating and mitigating factors in determining sanctions.

Tier	Conduct	Sanction Range
		Minimum	Maximum
A. Sexual misconduct	(1) Sexual misconduct with a patient	Suspension with conditions	Revocation
	(2) Lewd and immoral conduct within practice	Suspension with conditions	Revocation
B. Minimal standards of care	(1) Departure from or failure to conform to appropriate standards of care	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(2) Failure to keep adequate medical records	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(3) Failure to educate a patient about appropriate alternative methods of treatment in violation of law or the standard of care.	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(4) Failure to obtain informed consent	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(5) Incompetence	Reprimand with conditions	Revocation
C. Knowingly submitting to a third party any claim form, bill, or statement which contains any misleading, deceptive, false, incomplete, or fraudulent representation asserting a fee which is greater than the fee usually accepted as payment in full for any given procedure or service	(1) Overutilization of billing and/or false claims reporting	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(2) Billing fraudulently	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(3) Health care fraud	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
D. DEA or controlled dangerous substance violation, or improper prescribing, dispensing or administering of drugs	(1) Prescribing, dispensing, or administering of controlled substances for excessive periods of time and/or excessive amounts	Probation 6 months with conditions	Revocation
	(2) Improper prescribing, dispensing, or administering of any drug	Reprimand with conditions	Revocation
	(3) Prescribing, dispensing, or administering of controlled substances without appropriate examination	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(4) Failure to keep adequate patient records of substances prescribed, dispensed, or administered	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(5) Failure to use acceptable methods in selection of drugs or other modalities	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(6) Selling, prescribing, giving away, or administering of any drugs for illegal or illegitimate medical purposes	Suspension 6 months with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(7) Prescribing, dispensing, or administering of any drugs without medical indication to detriment of the patient	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(8) Prescribing, dispensing, or administering of drugs for sexual favors	Suspension 1 year with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(9) Taking back any drug from a patient that was prescribed	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
E. Unprofessional or unethical conduct	(1) Willfully betraying a professional confidence	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(2) Abandoning a patient	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(3) Failure to provide a patient’s medical record as required by law	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(4) Failure to cooperate with a Board investigation	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(5) By corrupt means, threats, or force, intimidating, influencing, or attempting to influence a person to change or withhold testimony in hearings or before the Board or the Office of Administrative Hearings	Suspension with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(6) By corrupt means, threats, or force, hindering, preventing, or otherwise delaying a person from making information available to the Board in the furtherance of a Board investigation.	Suspension with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
F. Substance abuse (using any narcotic or controlled dangerous substance or other drug that is in excess of therapeutic amounts or without valid medical indication)	(1) Self-referral	Reprimand with conditions	Revocation
	(2) Complaint initiated	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(3) Impaired ability to practice by reason of substance abuse	Reprimand with conditions	Revocation
G. Other Acts	(1) Practicing outside scope	Reprimand with conditions, subsequent probation as appropriate	Revocation
	(2) Practicing while Maryland podiatry license is suspended or revoked	Suspension	Revocation
	(3) Committing or having committed a felony	Suspension with conditions	Revocation
	(4) Willfully making a false report or record in the practice of podiatry	Reprimand with conditions	Revocation
	(5) Knowingly filing a falsified license renewal or falsifying a license renewal	Reprimand with conditions	Revocation
	(6) Practicing with a condition, illness, or disease that may impair the ability of the individual to perform podiatric services	Reprimand with conditions	Revocation
	(7) Credentialing fraud	Probation with conditions	Revocation
	(8) Other violations of the Act	Reprimand	Revocation

Depending upon the facts and circumstances of each case, and to the extent that they apply, the Board may consider the following mitigating and aggravating factors in determining whether the sanction in a particular case should fall outside of the range of sanctions established by the guidelines. These factors may include, but are not limited, to the following: