Bill Text: CA AB456 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Dentistry: diversion program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-05-27 - In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. [AB456 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB456-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 456 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Emmerson
FEBRUARY 24, 2009
An act to amend Sections 1695, 1695.1, 1695.5, 1695.6, 1696, 1697,
1698, and 1699 of , and to add Section 1699.5 to,
the Business and Professions Code, relating to dentistry.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 456, as amended, Emmerson. Dentistry: diversion program.
The Dental Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation
of dentists by the Dental Board of California. The act requires the
Dental Board of California to establish and administer a diversion
program for the rehabilitation of licensees whose competency is
impaired due to the abuse of drugs or alcohol, and imposes certain
duties on diversion evaluation committees and the program manager
related to accepting or denying licensees into, or terminating
licensees from, the program, reviewing and designating treatment
facilities, reviewing licensee participation, and performing other
related duties. Existing law requires the board to close any
investigation of a licensee whose investigation is based primarily on
the self-administration or possession of certain controlled
substances or drugs if the licensee enters and successfully completes
a diversion program, and requires the reopening of the investigation
upon withdrawal or termination from the program. Existing law
requires that all participating licensees sign an agreement of
understanding that withdrawal or termination from the diversion
program at a time when a diversion evaluation committee
determines that the licensee is a threat to the public's health and
safety shall result in the use of the licensee's diversion treatment
records in a disciplinary or criminal proceeding. Existing law
authorizes the program manager to request execution of a similar
statement of understanding that alleged violations of the act by a
licensee entering a diversion program may still be investigated.
Existing law authorizes a diversion evaluation committee
to convene public meetings in closed sessions if considering reports
pertaining to licensees requesting or participating in a diversion
program and only to the extent necessary to protect the privacy of a
licensee. Existing law requires a licensee who requests participation
in a diversion program to agree to cooperate with the treatment
program designed by the committee and to bear all costs of the
program, unless the cost is waived by the board.
This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that the
diversion program established by the Dental Board of California be
implemented as both a rehabilitative and
monitoring program for licensees whose participation is a component
of a probationary or disciplinary action. The bill would delete the
requirement that the board close investigations of licensees who
self-administer or possess controlled substances or drugs and who
enter and successfully complete a diversion program, and instead
authorize the board to determine when to close or reopen
investigations of those licensees, as specified. The bill would
authorize require a diversion
evaluation committee to report to the board's enforcement program any
licensee who is denied admission into, or terminated from, the
diversion program, and who is deemed by the committee to present a
threat to the public or his or her own health and safety. The bill
would authorize the use of that licensee's diversion records in any
disciplinary or criminal proceeding, and would delete the provisions
that require or authorize the execution of a statement of
understanding. The bill would also require
authorize the diversion evaluation committee to report to the
board's enforcement program certain licensees engaging in acts of
substantial noncompliance, as determined by the diversion evaluation
committee with the concurrence of the program manager, as
defined , and would authorize the use of those
licensees licensees' records for purposes of
discipline, as specified. The bill would also expand the committee's
authority to convene a closed session meeting as applied to matters
relating to a licensee requesting or participating in a diversion
program, and would require a waiver of licensee confidentiality under
certain circumstances, including upon filing by the licensee of a
lawsuit against the board relating to the diversion program.
The bill would toll the statute of limitations for filing an
accusation against a licensee during the time period a licensee is
participating in the diversion program, and would delete the
authority of the board to waive costs attributed to a licensee
participating in a program. The bill would also make other
nonsubstantive, technical changes to related provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1695 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1695. It is the intent of the Legislature that the Dental Board
of California seek ways and means to identify and rehabilitate
licensees whose competency may be impaired due to abuse of, or
dependency on, dangerous drugs or alcohol, so that licensees so
afflicted may be treated and returned to the practice of dentistry in
a manner that will not endanger the public health and safety. It is
also the intent of the Legislature that the Dental Board of
California shall implement this legislation in part by establishing a
diversion program as both a voluntary alternative
approach to traditional disciplinary actions and as
that shall be both a rehabilitative and a
monitoring program for licensees whose participation is a component
of a probationary or disciplinary action.
SEC. 2. Section 1695.1 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1695.1. As used in this article:
(a) "Board" means the Dental Board of California.
(b) "Committee" means a diversion evaluation committee created by
this article.
(c) "Program manager" means the staff manager of the diversion
program, as designated by the executive officer of the board. The
program manager shall have background experience in dealing with
substance abuse issues.
SEC. 3. Section 1695.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1695.5. (a) The board shall establish criteria for the
acceptance, denial, or termination of licensees in a diversion
program. Unless ordered by the board as a condition of probation or
other disciplinary action, only those licensees who have voluntarily
requested diversion treatment and supervision by a committee shall
participate in a diversion program.
(b) A licensee who is not the subject of a current investigation
may self-refer to the diversion program on a confidential basis,
except as provided in subdivision (f).
(c) A licensee under current investigation by the board may also
request entry into the diversion program by contacting the board's
Diversion Program Manager. The Diversion Program Manager may refer
the licensee requesting participation in the program to a diversion
evaluation committee for evaluation of eligibility.
(d) If the reasons for a current investigation of a licensee are
based primarily on the self-administration of any controlled
substance or dangerous drugs or alcohol under Section 1681, or the
illegal possession, prescription, or nonviolent procurement of any
controlled substance or dangerous drugs for self-administration that
does not involve actual, direct harm to the public, the board may
close the investigation without further action if the licensee is
accepted into the board's diversion program and successfully
completes the requirements of the program. If an investigation is
closed and the licensee withdraws or is terminated from the program
by a diversion evaluation committee, and the termination is approved
by the program manager, the investigation may be reopened and
disciplinary action imposed, if warranted, as determined by the
board.
(e) Neither acceptance nor participation in the diversion program
shall preclude the board from investigating or continuing to
investigate, or taking disciplinary action or continuing to take
disciplinary action against, any licensee for any unprofessional
conduct committed before, during, or after participation in the
diversion program.
(f) If a diversion evaluation committee determines that a
licensee, who is denied admission into the diversion program or
terminated from the diversion program, presents a threat to the
public or his or her own health and safety, the committee shall
report the name and license number of the licensee, along with a copy
of all diversion records for that licensee, to the board's
enforcement program. The board may use any of the records it receives
under this subdivision in any disciplinary or criminal proceeding.
(g) Any licensee terminated from the diversion program for failure
to comply with program requirements is subject to disciplinary
action by the board for acts committed before, during, and after
participation in the diversion program. A licensee who has been under
investigation by the board and has been terminated from the
diversion program by a diversion evaluation committee shall be
reported by the diversion evaluation committee to the board.
SEC. 4. Section 1695.6 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1695.6. A committee created under this article operates under the
direction of the program manager. The program manager has the
primary responsibility to review and evaluate recommendations of the
committee. Each committee shall have the following duties and
responsibilities:
(a) To evaluate those licensees who request to participate in the
diversion program according to the guidelines prescribed by the board
and to make recommendations. In making the recommendations, a
committee shall consider the recommendations of any licensees
designated by the board to serve as consultants on the admission of
the licensee to the diversion program.
(b) To review and designate those treatment facilities to which
licensees in a diversion program may be referred.
(c) To receive and review information concerning a licensee
participating in the program.
(d) To consider in the case of each licensee participating in a
program whether he or she may with safety continue or resume the
practice of dentistry.
(e) To perform such other related duties, under the direction of
the board or program manager, as the board may by regulation require.
SEC. 5. Section 1696 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1696. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 9 (commencing
with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2
of the Government Code, relating to public meetings, a committee may
convene in closed session to consider matters relating to any
licensee requesting or participating in a diversion program. A
meeting that will be convened entirely in closed session need not
comply with Section 11125 or 11126.3 of the Government Code.
SEC. 6. Section 1697 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1697. Each licensee who requests participation in a diversion
program shall agree to cooperate with the treatment program designed
by the committee and approved by the program manager and to bear all
costs related to the program , unless the cost is waived by the
board . Any failure to comply with the provisions of a
treatment program may result in termination of the licensee's
participation in a program.
SEC. 7. Section 1698 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1698. (a) After the committee and the program manager in their
discretion have determined that a licensee has been rehabilitated and
the diversion program is completed, the committee shall purge and
destroy all records pertaining to the licensee's participation in a
diversion program.
(b) Except as authorized by subdivision (f) of Section 1695.5 and
subdivisions (c) and (d), all board and committee records and records
of proceedings pertaining to the treatment of a licensee in a
program shall be kept confidential and are not subject to discovery
or subpoena.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the diversion
evaluation committee shall may report
to the board's enforcement program, for any licensee who is
participating in the diversion program as a result of his or her
license being placed on probation or as a result of a referral
related to a board investigation pursuant to subdivision (d) of
Section 1695.5, all acts of substantial noncompliance by the licensee
as determined by the diversion evaluation committee with the
concurrence of the program manager . The report shall be made
no more than 24 hours after the diversion evaluation committee makes
its determination. If that licensee does not successfully complete
the diversion program, all diversion records for that licensee shall
be provided to the board's enforcement program and may be used at the
board's discretion to discipline the licensee.
(d) A licensee shall be deemed to have waived any rights granted
by any law or regulation relating to confidentiality under the
program, if he or she does any of the following:
(1) Presents information relating to any aspect of the diversion
program during any stage of the disciplinary process subsequent to
the filing of an accusation, statement of issues, or petition to
compel an examination pursuant to Article 12.5 (commencing with
Section 820) of Chapter 1. The waiver under this paragraph shall be
limited to information necessary to verify or refute any information
disclosed by the licensee.
(2) Files a lawsuit against the board relating to any aspect of
the diversion program.
(3) Claims in defense to a disciplinary action, based on a
complaint that led to the licensee's participation in the diversion
program, that he or she was prejudiced by the length of time that
passed between the alleged violation and the filing of the
accusation. The waiver under this paragraph shall be limited to
information necessary to document the length of time the licensee
participated in the diversion program.
SEC. 8. Section 1699 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1699. The board shall provide for the representation of any
person making reports to a committee or the board under this article
in any action for defamation for reports or information given to the
committee or the board regarding a licensee's participation in the
diversion program.
SEC. 9. Section 1699.5 is added to the Business
and Professions Code, to read:
1699.5. Notwithstanding Section 1670.2, the statute of
limitations relating to the filing of an accusation against a
licensee shall be tolled during the time period a licensee is
participating in the diversion program.
