Bill Text: TX HB2853 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the regulation of the practice of podiatry.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-12 - Referred to Licensing & Administrative Procedures [HB2853 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB2853-Introduced.html

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By: Goldman H.B. No. 2853

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of the practice of podiatry.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 202.2032(d), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) The
[Not later than the 15th day after the date the
complaint is filed with the department, the] department shall
notify the license holder who is the subject of the complaint of the
name and address of the insurance agent, insurer, pharmaceutical
company, or third-party administrator who filed the complaint,
unless the notice would jeopardize an investigation.
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 202, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 202.204 to read as follows:
Sec. 202.204. EXPERT WITNESS. (a) In this section, "expert
witness" means a podiatrist or other qualified individual with whom
the department contracts to assist the department with reviewing,
investigating, or prosecuting complaints filed under this chapter.
(b) The department may contract with an expert witness to
assist the department with reviewing, investigating, or
prosecuting a complaint filed under this chapter.
(c) Except for an act by an expert witness involving fraud,
conspiracy, or malice, an expert witness is immune from liability
and may not be subject to a suit for damages for any act arising from
the performance of the expert witness's duties in:
(1) participating in an informal conference to
determine the facts of a complaint;
(2) evaluating evidence in a complaint and offering an
opinion or technical guidance on an alleged violation of this
chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter;
(3) testifying at a hearing regarding a complaint; or
(4) making an evaluation, report, or recommendation
regarding a complaint.
SECTION 3. Section 202.253(a-1), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a-1) The commission or department may refuse to admit a
person to an examination, and may refuse to issue a license to
practice podiatry to a person, for:
(1) presenting a license, certificate, or diploma that
was illegally or fraudulently obtained or engaging in fraud or
deception in passing the examination;
(2) being convicted of[:
[(A) a felony;
[(B) a crime that involves moral turpitude; or
[(C)] an offense under Section 202.606;
(3) engaging in habits of intemperance or drug
addiction that in the department's opinion would endanger the
health, well-being, or welfare of patients;
(4) engaging in grossly unprofessional or
dishonorable conduct of a character that in the department's
opinion is likely to deceive or defraud the public;
(5) directly or indirectly violating or attempting to
violate this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter as a
principal, accessory, or accomplice;
(6) using any advertising statement of a character
tending to mislead or deceive the public;
(7) advertising professional superiority or the
performance of professional service in a superior manner;
(8) purchasing, selling, bartering, or using or
offering to purchase, sell, barter, or use a podiatry degree,
license, certificate, diploma, or a transcript of a license,
certificate, or diploma, in or incident to an application for a
license to practice podiatry;
(9) altering, with fraudulent intent, a podiatry
license, certificate, diploma, or a transcript of a podiatry
license, certificate, or diploma;
(10) using a podiatry license, certificate, or
diploma, or a transcript of a podiatry license, certificate, or
diploma, that has been fraudulently purchased, issued,
counterfeited, or materially altered;
(11) impersonating, or acting as proxy for, another
person in a podiatry license examination;
(12) impersonating a license holder, or permitting
another person to use the license holder's license to practice
podiatry in this state, to treat or offer to treat, by any method,
conditions and ailments of human feet;
(13) directly or indirectly employing a person whose
license to practice podiatry has been suspended or associating in
the practice of podiatry with a person whose license to practice
podiatry has been suspended or who has been convicted of the
unlawful practice of podiatry in this state or elsewhere;
(14) wilfully making in the application for a license
to practice podiatry a material misrepresentation or material
untrue statement;
(15) being unable to practice podiatry with reasonable
skill and safety to a patient because of age, illness, drunkenness,
or excessive use of drugs, narcotics, chemicals, or other
substances or as a result of a mental or physical condition;
(16) failing to practice podiatry in an acceptable
manner consistent with public health and welfare;
(17) being removed, suspended, or disciplined in
another manner by the podiatrist's peers in a professional podiatry
association or society, whether local, regional, state, or national
in scope, or being disciplined by a licensed hospital or the medical
staff of a hospital, including removal, suspension, limitation of
hospital privileges, or other disciplinary action, if the
commission or department determines that the action was:
(A) based on unprofessional conduct or
professional incompetence likely to harm the public; and
(B) appropriate and reasonably supported by
evidence submitted to the association, society, hospital, or
medical staff; or
(18) having repeated or recurring meritorious health
care liability claims filed against the podiatrist that in the
commission's or department's opinion are evidence of professional
incompetence likely to injure the public.
SECTION 4. Section 202.602(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The department [commission by rule] shall develop a
system to identify and monitor a podiatrist's compliance with this
chapter and any [. The system must include:
[(1) procedures for determining whether a podiatrist
is in compliance with an] order issued by the commission or
executive director under this chapter [; and
[(2) a method of identifying and monitoring each
podiatrist who represents a risk to the public].
SECTION 5. Sections 202.2025 and 202.6011, Occupations
Code, are repealed.
SECTION 6. Section 202.2032, Occupations Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to a complaint filed under Chapter 202,
Occupations Code, on or after the effective date of this Act. A
complaint filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect on the date the complaint was filed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. Section 202.253(a-1), Occupations Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a conviction that occurs on or
after the effective date of this Act. A conviction that occurs
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the conviction occurred, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.