82R7435 JAM-F
By: Schwertner H.B. No. 680
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 680:
By: S. Davis of Harris C.S.H.B. No. 680
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to complaints filed with the Texas Medical Board.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 154.057(b), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The board shall complete a preliminary investigation of
the complaint not later than the 45th [30th] day after the date of
receiving the complaint. The board shall first determine whether
the physician constitutes a continuing threat to the public
welfare. On completion of the preliminary investigation, the board
shall determine whether to officially proceed on the complaint. If
the board fails to complete the preliminary investigation in the
time required by this subsection, the board's official
investigation of the complaint is considered to commence on that
date.
SECTION 2. Section 164.003(b), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Rules adopted under this section must require that:
(1) an informal meeting in compliance with Section
2001.054, Government Code, be scheduled not later than the 180th
day after the date the board's official investigation of the
complaint is commenced as provided by Section 154.057(b), unless
good cause is shown by the board for scheduling the informal meeting
after that date;
(2) the board give notice to the license holder of the
time and place of the meeting not later than the 45th [30th] day
before the date the meeting is held;
(3) the complainant and the license holder be provided
an opportunity to be heard;
(4) at least one of the board members or district
review committee members participating in the informal meeting as a
panelist be a member who represents the public;
(5) the board's legal counsel or a representative of
the attorney general be present to advise the board or the board's
staff; and
(6) a member of the board's staff be at the meeting to
present to the board's representative the facts the staff
reasonably believes it could prove by competent evidence or
qualified witnesses at a hearing.
SECTION 3. Sections 154.057 and 164.003, Occupations Code,
as amended by this Act, apply only to the investigation of a
complaint filed on or after the effective date of this Act. The
investigation of a complaint filed before that date is governed by
the law in effect on the date the complaint was filed, and that law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.