New Jersey - Volume VII, Number 1 - January, 1998
New Jersey - Volume VII, Number 1 - January, 1998
WARRANTLESS SEARCH TO BE REVIEWED BY APPEALS COURT
Last month we reported that the state Attorney General sought disciplinary action against a physician for refusing to allow an unannounced warrantless search of her offices, and all books, records, patient records, appointment logs, job descriptions and equipment maintained in her offices. On December 25th (yes, Christmas Day) the Board of Medical Examiners issued an Order upholding the Attorney General's right to conduct such searches, fining the physician $1,000 for failing to cooperate with this warrantless search, and ordering a reinspection of her offices.
The search was authorized after a patient complained - two years earlier - that the physician had given her a free sample of Voltarin - a non-scheduled NSAID - which had an outdated expiration date stamped on the package. The patient was not harmed.
The Medical Society of New Jersey and the physician brought an action in the Superior Court to enjoin the Board and the Attorney General from conducting this inspection. Yesterday January 15, 1998, the Superior Court transferred the case to the Appellate Division for further consideration of this serious abridgment of Constitutional Rights. In transferring the matter to the Appellate Division the lower court suggested that, in future actions, any physician faced with an overbroad Demand for Inspection may seek immediate relief in the Superior Court and, by so doing, avoid possible disciplinary action.
To help protect physicians in dealing with unannounced warrantless searches, the Physician Advocacy Program™ offered by Kern Augustine Conroy & Schoppmann has extended its coverage, at no additional charge, to provide legal representation to any physician faced with such demand. For membership information, call Linda Somers at 908-704-8585.
WORLD WIDE WEB: Information on the Physician Advocacy Program,™ and copies of the Medical Society's briefs to the Superior Court, which provide detailed information on this matter, can be found at the Kern Augustine Conroy & Schoppmann web site - http://www.drlaw.com.
STARK II REGULATIONS: Proposed regulations implementing "Stark II," the federal law prohibiting certain self-referrals, have been published. Watch next month's Statlaw for details regarding this proposal and regarding the new HCFA regulations, effective January 1, 1998, requiring that certain diagnostic test procedures be furnished under a specified level of physician supervision: general, direct or personal supervision.
COLLECTION SERVICES: Kern Augustine's physician collection services entered its second year with collection averages significantly above the national average. For more information on collection services, call Joanne Calabrese at 908-704-1283.