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The bill would amend Chapter 154 of the Occupations Code by requiring the Texas Medical Board (TMB) to provide a physician who is the subject of a complaint with a copy of the complaint via personal delivery or certified mail.
TMB would be required to deliver a copy of the preliminary and final reports, including any dissenting or minority report, to the physician who is the subject of the review. The name and medical credentials of each physician who files an expert report would also be required to be provided to the physician who is the subject of the review.
Currently, the names of complainants and copies of the original complaint against a physician filed at the Texas Medical Board (TMB) are kept confidential from the doctor under review throughout the entire complaint process unless the complainant waives confidentiality. There are multiple steps through the TMB process, including a review of the complaint by at least two but possibly three medical experts. Those reports are also kept confidential from the physician under review throughout the entire complaint process. This process, if followed to its ultimate conclusion, can result in the removal of a physician's license. This denies a physician basic tenets of due process.
Specifying efficient methods to notify a physician a complaint has been filed ensures the physician's due process rights are upheld. We support SB 1813 because it promotes our limited government principle.
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