A nurse attorney is a great help for defense when facing fraud cases. The Texas Board of Nursing (BON) is the government agency in the state of Texas that has jurisdiction to hear and decide cases arising from the nursing profession. This is the body that can entertain cases or complaints filed against any LVN or RN in the country. The members of the Board will render a decision or resolution after a complete trial and hearing process. All orders that are issued by the Board are made after a thorough and deliberate discussion on the facts and issues of the case.
The Texas Board of Nursing (BON) must state the laws or regulations from which they base their decisions, orders, or resolutions. From the moment of applying for Initial Licensure Examination up to the time of practicing the profession, all nurses are already under the administration of the Board. This is the reason why the Texas Board of Nursing already has the right to question all entries provided in the application forms that are filed by vocational or registered nurses.
At the time of the initial incident, she was employed as a Nurse Midwife at a medical facility in Richardson, Texas, and had been in that position for six (6) months.
On or about January 18, 2020, while employed as a Nurse Midwife at a medical facility in Richardson, Texas, RN examined and assessed a patient and subsequently generated a prescription for Testosterone Cypionate 200 mg/ml, a Schedule III controlled substance, without Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) registration and by using another provider’s name and DEA registration number. RN’s conduct was likely to deceive the pharmacy and resulted in an invalid prescription being submitted to the pharmacy.
In response, RN states she saw the patient on January 18, 2020 as a follow-up visit. Following her physical examination and assessment of the patient, RN generated a prescription for the patient for Testosterone Cypionate 200 mg/ml, intramuscular oil. After she generated the prescription, she was contacted by a pharmacist who expressed concern that she had issued a prescription under the name and DEA number of her supervising physician without a DEA registration of her own. After her discussion with the pharmacist, RN contacted her supervising physician, who subsequently signed and submitted a prescription for the same drug. On January 22, 2020, her supervising physician reviewed and signed off on her evaluation of the patient. RN states that at the time she generated the prescription, it was her belief that based on the Standing Delegation Orders, other protocols of the medical facility, and the Prescriptive Authority Agreement between her and her supervising physician, that her supervising physician was the prescriber of the prescription and she was the facilitator of the prescription. RN states that it was not until she received the Board’s investigatory letter that she realized that she was considered to be the prescriber of the prescription and that she needed her own DEA number in order to submit the prescription. Within days of receiving the Board’s investigatory letter, she applied for a DEA Registration.
The above actions constitute grounds for disciplinary action in accordance with Section 301.452(b)(10)&(13), Texas Occupations Code, and is a violation of 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.11(1)(A),(4)(A)&(4)(B), 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12(1)(A),(1)(B)&(11)(B), and §222.4(b).
The evidence against the RN was strong. At the same time, she was not able to properly defend her case in court. As a result, the Texas Board of Nursing placed her nursing license under disciplinary action.
Avoid the similar thing from happening on your end. Make sure to find the right defense attorney in case a complaint will be filed against you before the Texas Board of Nursing (BON). For more details or for a confidential consultation regarding accusations, it’s best to contact an experienced Texas nurse attorney. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An is an experienced nurse attorney who represented more than 300 nurse cases for RNs and LVNs for the past 16 years. You can call him at (832)-428-5679 to get started or to inquire for more information regarding nursing license case defenses.