Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...Accordingly, we must reverse the dismissal order and remand this cause to the trial court for reinstatement of the charges against Jones and for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. [6] REVERSED and REMANDED. COBB and W. SHARP, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] See § 490.009, Fla....

...Marrero's Texas license had been and remained suspended by the regulatory body in Texas, and made the following "conclusion of law": [T]he applicant's license having been suspended in Texas because of the applicant's felony conviction, the Board has the authority to permanently deny the application here. Section 490.009, Florida Statutes....

...ation and that the Board will not entertain a renewed application at any future time. The Board merely argues that when it finds that an applicant's license to practice psychology has been suspended in another state, it has the authority pursuant to section 490.009(1)(a), Florida Statutes, to deny the application....

...The issue is not whether the Board had the statutory authority to deny Dr. Marrero's application for a license to practice psychology based on her felony conviction and related license suspension in the state of Texas. Clearly, the Board had such authority. See § 490.009(1)(a), (2)(b) and (c), Fla....

...ded July 18, 1988, and in effect when this matter was considered by the Board, stated in pertinent part: (1) When the Board finds an applicant or licensee whom it regulates under Chapter 490, F.S., has committed any of the acts set forth in Section [490.009(2) [2] ], F.S., it shall issue a final order imposing *1112 appropriate penalties as recommended in the following disciplinary guidelines....

...However, the Board stipulated prior to appeal that Dr. Marrero's lack of a course in this subject does not pose a permanent impediment to her licensure. [2] The rule mistakenly cites section 490.002(2). There is no subsection (2) to section 490.002, and the parties agree that 490.009 is the statute to which the rule is intended to refer....

...d because that issue was adjudicated in appellant's favor in a prior administrative proceeding between Dr. Brown and the Board. The Department filed an administrative complaint against Dr. Brown in August 1989, alleging that he had violated sections 490.009(2)(k), (p), and (s), and 490.0111, Florida Statutes (1981-1986), by reason of his love affair with R.B., a woman who was his former patient. The Department voluntarily dismissed the counts of that complaint charging Dr. Brown with violating sections 490.009(2)(k) and 490.0111, which left for hearing and decision only the alleged violations of subsections (p) and (s)....

...The 1989 case proceeded to formal hearing before a hearing officer from the Division of Administrative Hearings. Based on the evidence received, the hearing officer entered a recommended order finding that the evidence failed to prove the allegation that Dr. Brown had violated section 490.009(2)(p) by being unable to practice psychology with reasonable skill or competence as a result of illness, drunkenness, or excessive use of drugs, narcotics, chemicals, or any other substance. The hearing officer also found that the evidence did not establish any nexus between Dr. Brown's conduct and his practice of psychology and thus did not establish that Dr. Brown had violated section 490.009(2)(s)....

...On June 19, 1990 (ten days before the final order was entered in the 1989 case), the Department filed a second complaint against Dr. Brown alleging that during the time Dr. Brown was engaged in his love affair with R.B., he was providing psychological services to the children of R.B. and this was a possible violation of section 490.009(2)(s), Florida Statutes....

...Brown, stating in pertinent part: This letter is sent to inform you of the action in regard to the above-referenced complaint. This complaint concerned allegations that you failed to meet minimum standards of performance in professional activities in violation of Section 490.009(2)(s), Florida Statutes....

...(Emphasis added.) The sole allegation contained in that 1990 complaint reads as follows: [Dr. Brown] stated during testimony in previous DPR case (89-0599 DOAH) that he had engaged in a love affair with a client whose children he was counseling. Possible violation of Section 490.009(2)(s), F.S. The 1989 complaint alleged, inter alia, that Dr. Brown had participated in a romantic/sexual affair with a woman (R.B.) he was counseling and this conduct violated subsection 490.009(2)(s), Florida Statutes. Subsection 490.009(2)(s), Florida Statutes (1985), states that the following constitutes grounds for disciplinary action: Failing to meet the minimum standards of performance in professional activities when measured against generally prevailing peer per...

...ol. The Department, the Board, and the Probable Cause Panel became bound by the determination of fact that Dr. Brown's testing of R.B.'s children was done as an act of friendship and not in a professional capacity, and that Dr. Brown did not violate section 490.009(2)(s) because a nexus between Dr....

...ps. Eventually, a sexual relationship developed between the two and continued until December 1995, when K.R. discovered she was pregnant. Count One of the complaint alleged that by engaging in a sexual relationship with a client, Dr. Grabau violated section 490.009(2)(q) & .0111, Florida Statutes (1995), and rule 59AA-16.003(2) & (5)(a), Florida Administrative Code, which proscribe "sexual misconduct." Count Two alleged that Dr. Grabau violated section *703 490.009(2)(k), Florida Statutes (1995), by committing any act upon a patient or client that would constitute sexual battery or sexual misconduct as defined in section 490.0111, Florida Statutes. Count Three alleged that Dr. Grabau violated section 490.009(2)(s), Florida Statutes (1995), by failing to meet the minimum standards of performance in professional activities when measured against generally prevailing peer performance, including "the undertaking of activities for which the licensee is not qualified by training or experience." Dr....

...As a part of Conclusion of Law 19, the ALJ found: "The psychologist/client relationship, once established, is deemed to continue in perpetuity for the purposes of determining the existence of sexual misconduct." Additionally, the evidence presented by Department was found to constitute a violation of section 490.009(2)(k), Florida Statutes, which states as a ground for discipline a psychologist's commission of any act upon a patient or client that would constitute sexual battery or would constitute sexual misconduct, as defined in section 490.0111, Florida Statutes....

...The expert's testimony was not controverted by any credible evidence to the contrary. Accordingly, the ALJ concluded that clear and convincing evidence demonstrates that Dr. Grabau failed to meet acceptable minimum standards of practice, thereby raising a ground for discipline pursuant to section 490.009(2)(s), Florida Statutes....

...inistrative Complaint against Dr. Kale, alleging that in June 2013, he was convicted in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida of two counts of health care fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347, and thereby violated section 490.009(1)(w), Florida Statutes (2013), through a violation of section 456.072(1)(ii), Florida Statutes (2013)....

...nes would require specific findings of mitigation or aggravation. The Board entered a Final Order, wherein it adopted the allegations of fact and conclusions of law set forth in the Administrative Complaint; found that it was authorized by section 490.009(2) and/or section 456.072(2) to impose a penalty; and, accordingly, revoked Dr....

...The Board of Psychology shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of the chapter, and “[a]ll applicable provisions of chapter 456 relating to activities of regulatory boards shall apply to the board.” § 490.004(4)-(5), Fla. Stat. (2013). Section 490.009, Florida Statutes (2013), titled “Discipline,” provides: (1) The following acts constitute grounds for denial of a license or disciplinary action, as specified in s....

...In turn, Florida Administrative Code Rule 64B19-17.002 contains the Board’s disciplinary guidelines and provides: (1) When the Board finds that an applicant or a licensee has committed any of the acts set forth in Section 456.072(1) or 490.009(2), F.S., it shall issue a final order imposing one or more of the penalties listed in Section 456.072(2), F.S., as recommended in the following disciplinary guidelines. . . . The guidelines are presented as a range of penalties that may be imposed from minimum to maximum. For a violation of section 490.009(1)(w), the penalty range for a first offense is from reprimand and a $1,000 fine to revocation and a fine up to $10,000....

...Only one of the five issues raised on appeal merits discussion. We reverse and remand for a formal hearing. The Department of Professional Regulation (Department) filed an administrative complaint against Iazzo on March 3, 1992, alleging a violation of section 490.009(2)(s), Florida Statutes (1987)....

...ding that Iazzo's request for a formal hearing did not meet the requirements of section 120.57(1) or Florida Administrative Code Rule 28-5.201, [3] in that it did not specifically allege a factual dispute. Accordingly, the Board found Iazzo violated section 490.009(2)(s), as charged, placed him on two years of probation and ordered him to pay a $1,000 administrative fine....

...s are being determined by an agency. Id. Accordingly, we REVERSE and REMAND to the Board of Psychological Examiners with directions that it refer the case to DOAH for a formal evidentiary hearing. SMITH, BARFIELD and LAWRENCE, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] Section 490.009(2)(s) provides in relevant part: (2) The following acts of a licensee or applicant are grounds for which the disciplinary actions listed in subsection (1) may be taken: ........

...Philip Boswell, a licensed psychologist, to render an expert opinion as to whether entering into a business relationship with a patient prior to terminating that patient's psychotherapy fell below "minimum standards of performance in professional activities" referred to in § 490.009(2)(s)....

...out in a supplemental order and notice of intent to deny the application. The sole ground for denial remaining before the board was that the applicant had been reprimanded in North Carolina, and that a reprimand is an “action against” a license. Section 490.009(l)(a), Florida Statutes, the Psychological Services Act, authorizes the board to deny the application of an applicant whose license has been “acted against” in another state....

Robert A. Butterworth Attorney General (ls) 1 Section 490.009(1)(g), F.S. 2 See, Statement of Policy Concerning

...For example, those licensed in clinical social work, marriage and family therapy, mental-health counseling, and psychological services may not “[f]ail[] to meet the minimum standards of performance in pro- fessional activities when measured against generally prevailing peer performance.” Fla. Stat. §§ 490.009(1)(r); 491.009(1)(r)....

...4 other words, licensed professionals must comply with the standard of care in their mental-healthcare practices. Historically, Florida has enforced these rules and others like them.12 So when it comes to talk therapy, under Fla. Stat. §§ 490.009(1)(r) and 491.009(1)(r), Florida has undertaken disciplinary actions against licensed practitioners whom the State concludes have failed to meet the substantive standard of care....

...2008-08922 (Department brought a complaint against a licensed psychologist that alleged she “fail[ed] to meet the mini- mum standards of performance in professional activities when measured against generally prevailing peer performance,” in viola- tion of Fla. Stat. § 490.009(1)(r), by, “[u]pon termination of services by [the] patient [], failing to remind [the] patient [] that she could find a replacement psychologist, therapist, or psychiatrist by con- sulting her insurer’s provider directory”)....