For most of us, being charged with a crime carries with it a set of usual evils: fines, imprisonment, and the stigma of criminal record. Others, such as licensed professionals, will suffer more. This article is about legal consequences a New York physician may face as the result of being charged with or convicted of a crime.



In New York, both felonies and misdemeanors are crimes. If you plead guilty or are convicted at trial of either a felony or a misdemeanor, you will have a criminal record. Being convicted of a crime is also professional misconduct in New York. It is virtually certain that a New York physician convicted of a crime will face a disciplinary action against their medical license. The agency responsible for disciplining New York physicians is the Office of Professional Medical Conduct, usually referred to as the OPMC. There are a few ways the OPMC finds out about a doctor's criminal conviction. First, New York Criminal Procedure Law requires the New York probation department to report all convictions of New York licensees to disciplinary agencies. Such reports are sent every three months. Second, prosecutors or other sources may inform the OPMC of criminal prosecution. Lastly, during the license renewal process the licensee is required to disclose facts related to criminal background.

It is commonly believed that only prosecutions related to the practice of medicine will result in professional discipline. That is not so. The truth is, any criminal conviction for any criminal act is professional misconduct. The state disciplines doctors for anything from shoplifting to drunk driving to assault to white collar and business crimes. Obviously, potential disciplinary sanctions will depend on the nature of the crime committed and many additional factors. An experienced New York medical license defense attorney will be able to predict the probably outcome of the disciplinary hearing. While criminal conviction will result in professional discipline, it is not at all certain that the doctor's license will be suspended or revoked. A properly presented defense may use mitigating factors that could significantly minimize potential disciplinary measures taken by the Department of Education. For example, one could expect the penalties to be less severe if the crime has very little connection to the practice of medicine, if it is a relatively minor offense, if the crime "victimless", if the doctor has no prior criminal history, if public would not be endangered by the doctor's practice of medicine, and the like. Others factors such as the licensee's personal character, proven track of community involvement and the like may be considered. More serious cases will result in more severe penalties. Potential disciplinary sanctions against a New York doctor may include censure and reprimand in less serious matters and suspension or revocation when the conviction was for a more serious crime. Other penalties include hefty fines, probation, restrictions on practice, and community service.

In our jurisprudential system a person stands innocent until proven guilty. Simple accusation or criminal indictment will not bring about professional discipline. However, in some aspects, physicians charged with crimes enjoy much less protection than the rest of criminal defendants. For example, when a Medicaid provider is indicted for what would be a crime in New York and the alleged accusation relates to medical billing, providing of healthcare services, or managing a healthcare-related operation, the provider will be suspended from the program even though he or she has not been convicted yet.

The same applies to hospital privileges and HMO and insurance companies' memberships. A physician may easily forfeit hospital privileges or dismissed from participation in other programs simply because criminal charges are pending against him or her.

It is always advisable to anyone under criminal investigation to seek legal counsel as soon as possible before providing any information to investigators. For doctors and other licensed professionals it is even more actual. Any criminal case is only as good as the government's evidence. An experienced criminal defense attorney, if brought into the game early, may be able to prevent the client from being charged to begin with. A New York doctor under criminal investigation should seek assistance not from just criminal defense attorney but a criminal defense attorney experienced in medical license defense and disciplinary proceedings.