Sec. 10.32.04.13. Prohibited Conduct, Hearings, and Appeals

A. For the commission of a prohibited act, subject to the hearing provisions of Health Occupations Article, §14-405, Annotated Code of Maryland, on the affirmative vote of a majority of its full, authorized membership, the Board may:

(1) Reprimand any psychiatrist's assistant;

(2) Place any psychiatrist's assistant on probation; or

(3) Suspend or revoke the registration of a psychiatrist's assistant.

B. The following are prohibited acts:

(1) Fraudulently or deceptively obtaining, or attempting to obtain, a registration for the applicant or certified individual or for another;

(2) Fraudulently or deceptively using a registration;

(3) Being guilty of unprofessional or immoral conduct in the practice of psychiatry as a psychiatrist's assistant;

(4) Being professionally, physically, or mentally incompetent;

(5) Habitually being intoxicated;

(6) Being addicted to, or habitually abusing, any narcotic or controlled dangerous substance as defined in Criminal Law Article, Annotated Code of Maryland;

(7) Providing professional services while:

(a) Under the influence of alcohol, or

(b) Using any narcotic or controlled dangerous substance, as defined in Criminal Law Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, or other drug that is in excess of therapeutic amounts or without valid medical indication;

(8) Willfully making or filing a false report or record in the practice of psychiatry as a psychiatrist's assistant or aiding another individual to do so;

(9) Willfully failing to file or record any report as required under law, willfully impeding or obstructing the filing or recording of a report, or inducing another to fail to file or record a report;

(10) Making a willful misrepresentation in treatment;

(11) Practicing as a psychiatrist's assistant with an unauthorized individual or aiding an unauthorized individual in practice as a psychiatrist's assistant;

(12) Being disciplined by a licensing or disciplinary authority or being convicted or disciplined by a court of any state or country or disciplined by any branch of the United States uniformed services or the Veterans' Administration for an act that would be grounds for disciplinary action under this regulation;

(13) Failing to meet appropriate standards for the delivery of quality performance as a psychiatrist's assistant in this State;

(14) Willfully submitting false statements to collect fees for which services are not provided;

(15) Knowingly failing to report suspected child abuse in violation of Family Law Article, §5-903, Annotated Code of Maryland;

(16) Selling, prescribing, giving away, or administering medical prescription drugs, narcotics, or controlled dangerous substances, as defined in Criminal Law Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, for illegal or illegitimate medical purposes;

(17) Breaching patient confidentiality;

(18) Practicing beyond the authorized scope of practice;

(19) Performing delegated medical acts other than under the supervision of a psychiatrist approved by the Board;

(20) Refusing, withholding from, denying, or discriminating against a patient with regard to the provision of professional services for which the psychiatrist's assistant is registered and qualified to render because the patient may be HIV positive;

(21) Practicing or attempting to practice any delegated act as a psychiatrist's assistant without having received education, internship, training, or experience in the performance of that procedure;

(22) Soliciting professional patronage through an agent or other individuals or profits from the acts of an individual who is represented as an agent of the psychiatrist's assistant;

(23) Paying or agreeing to pay any sum to an individual for bringing or referring a patient or accepting or agreeing to accept any sum from an individual for bringing or referring a patient;

(24) Failing to comply with these regulations;

(25) On proper request, failing to provide, in writing, details of a patient's records to another health care provider, institution, or hospital; and

(26) Except in an emergency life-threatening situation, failing to comply with the Centers for Disease Control's guidelines on universal precautions.

C. Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude.

(1) Subject to the Administrative Procedure Act, the Board shall order the suspension of a registration of a psychiatrist's assistant if the psychiatrist's assistant is convicted of or pleads guilty or nolo contendere with respect to a crime involving moral turpitude whether or not any appeal or other proceeding is pending to have the conviction or plea set aside.

(2) After completion of the appellate process, if the conviction has not be reversed or the plea has not been set aside with respect to a crime involving moral turpitude, the Board shall order the revocation of a psychiatrist's assistant's registration subject to the hearing provisions of Health Occupations Article, §14-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

D. Surrender. Unless the Board agrees to accept the surrender of a registration, a psychiatrist's assistant may not surrender the registration nor may the registration lapse by operation of law while the psychiatrist's assistant is under investigation or while charges are pending against the assistant.

E. Unprofessional Conduct. Unprofessional conduct in the practice of medicine as defined by Health Occupations Article, §14-404(a)(3), Annotated Code of Maryland, includes the failure of a physician to comply with the statute and regulations governing supervising physicians and psychiatrist's assistants.

F. Complaints. Individuals may refer complaints alleging prohibited conduct to the Board to be investigated according to the Board's procedures.