Tate v. State, Bd. of Med. Exam’rs (Nev. Supreme Ct. – Sep. 10, 2015)
NRS 630.356(1) grants physicians the right to judicial review of Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners final decisions, while NRS 630.356(2) simultaneously prohibits district courts from entering a stay of the Board’s decision pending judicial review. The issue is whether this prohibition violates the Nevada Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine.
Tate is a surgeon licensed in Nevada. In February 2010, he was scheduled to perform a surgery at Valley Hospital at around 4 p.m. When he arrived to prepare for the surgery, members of the surgical team thought Dr. Tate smelled of alcohol. The hospital halted surgery preparations and asked Dr. Tate to submit to alcohol tests, which he did, admitting that he had consumed some alcohol during his lunch break. Dr. Tate’s blood alcohol level was .06 percent.
The Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners found that Dr. Tate had violated NAC 630.230(1)(c) by rendering services to a patient while under the influence of alcohol and in an impaired condition. The Board suspended Dr. Tate’s license for six months, issued a public reprimand, ordered him to complete an alcohol diversion program and pay $35,564.44 in investigation and prosecution costs and a $5,000 fine, and to complete continuing medical education on the subject of alcohol.
Dr. Tate petitioned for judicial review of the Board’s decision. He also requested a preliminary injunction to stay the sanctions and prevent the Board from filing a report with the National Practitioner Data Bank while judicial review was pending. Medical Boards are required by 45 C.F.R. §§ 60.5(d) and 60.8(a) to report sanctions to the National Practitioner Data Bank, which disseminates information of physician misconduct to health-care entities, including hospitals. In denying injunctive relief, the district court stated that, even though it thought the injunction was clearly warranted, NRS 630.356(2) precluded such action. Dr. Tate appealed the district court’s denial of his injunction request.
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