Health License Defense » addiction

Temporary Suspension of License for a Postive Drug Screen

Taralynn Mackay — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:45:07 +0000

Nurses that are on Board Orders for monitoring due to substance abuse or on a Board Order sending the nurse to TPAPN must be extremely careful with complying with their Board Order and with what they ingest because of the following section of the Nurse Practice Act (taken from the Board’s website at www.bon.state.tx.us). There is no provision to allow for an explanation that you mistakenly took a medication or that you were only taking cough medicine or whatever explanation is given for the positive screen. The Board will temporarily suspend your license and then you and your attorney will work on getting the issue resolved and your license unsuspended; so, it is much better to be careful to begin with.

Sec. 301.4551. Temporary License Suspension for Drug or Alcohol Use.

The board shall temporarily suspend the license of a nurse as provided by Section 301.455 if the nurse is under a board order prohibiting the use of alcohol or a drug or requiring the nurse to participate in a peer assistance program, and the nurse:

(1) tests positive for alcohol or a prohibited drug;

(2) refuses to comply with a board order to submit to a drug or alcohol test; or

(3) fails to participate in the peer assistance program and the program issues a letter of dismissal and referral to the board for noncompliance.

[Added by Acts 2009 (H.B. 3961), 81st Leg., eff. June 19, 2009]

BON at full staff-be careful if under Board monitoring or TPAPN order

Taralynn Mackay — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:21:32 +0000

Although there is still one attorney position still posted to be filled at the Texas Board of Nursing, the Board staff has reported that since they are at full staff they are going to move very quickly on violations of Board monitoring orders for substance abuse or for violation of TPAPN orders. Nurses under such orders must remember that the new 301.4551 section of the Texas Occupations Code authorizes the Board to temporarily suspend a nurse under such circumstances. Therefore, it is crucial to be very careful if subject to a substance abuse order or if you are a participant in TPAPN: be sure to call in on time, get your screens as required, submit all paperwork timely and be very, very, very careful of anything that you eat or drink.

Change is Coming

Jon Porter — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:49:29 +0000

Very soon the Texas Medical Board is going to turn over doctors and Physician Assistants in recovery over to a new State wide Physician Health Program (PHP). The PHP is indirectly associated with the Board. The Board president names the Board of Governors who are like the Board members for the PHP. The Board of Governors will hire the Executive Director and formulate the rules for the PHP. The PHP must report to the Board at each Board meeting. So, there will be some oversight and influence from the Board, but the PHP will be findings its own way in helping and monitoring physicians and PA in recovery.

As we learn more, we will have more positing on this exciting change.