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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2498
(By Delegates Morgan, Stephens, Hartman, Hatfield,
Martin, D. Poling, Staggers and Rowan)
[Passed March 10, 2011; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT
to amend and reenact §30-4-19, §30-4-20, §30-4-23, §30-4-28
and §30-4-29, of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
all relating to the practice of dentistry; requiring
notification of a dentist's death to the dental board by the
deceased's personal representative; requiring dentists to
notify the board of a life threatening occurrence, serious
injury or death to patient as a result of dental treatment or
related complications; providing for disciplinary action for
failing to report; certain actions of dentists subject to
disciplinary action by board; providing the board with the
authority to require a licensee have a psychological
evaluation prior to reinstatement of license; increasing
personal representative's length of time to dispose of shares
of a deceased shareholder in a dental corporation after
dentist's death; and permitting a dental student to work in a
public health setting under certain conditions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-4-19, §30-4-20, §30-4-23, §30-4-28 and §30-4-29, of
the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended reenacted,
all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. WEST VIRGINIA DENTAL PRACTICE ACT.
§30-4-19. Dental Office.
(a) A licensed dentist within thirty days of changing his or
her place of practice or establishing a practice at an additional
dental office shall furnish the board with the address of the new
or additional dental office.
(b) A personal representative of a deceased dentist shall
notify the board of a dentist's death no later than 60 days from
the death of the dentist.
(c) A licensed dental hygienist within thirty days of changing
his or her place of employment or establishing employment at
additional dental office shall furnish the board with the name and
address of the new or additional employers.
§30-4-20. Refusal to issue or renew, suspension or revocation of
license; disciplinary action.
(a) The board may refuse to issue, refuse to renew, suspend,
revoke or limit any license or practice privilege of a licensee and
may take disciplinary action against a licensee who, after hearing,
has been adjudged by the board as unqualified for any of the
following reasons:
(1) The presentation to the board of any diploma, license or
certificate illegally or fraudulently obtained, or one obtained from an institution which is not reputable, or one obtained from an
unrecognized or irregular institution or state board;
(2) Suspension or revocation of a license issued by another
state or territory on grounds which would be the basis of
discipline in this state;
(3) Incompetent, negligent or willful misconduct in the
practice of dentistry or dental hygiene, which shall include the
departure from, or the failure to conform to, the minimal standards
of acceptable and prevailing dental or dental hygiene practice in
their area of expertise as shall be determined by the board. The
board need not establish actual injury to the patient in order to
adjudge a licensee guilty of this conduct;
(4) Engaging in conduct that indicates a lack of knowledge of,
an inability to apply or the negligent application of principles or
skills of dentistry or dental hygiene;
(5) Being guilty of gross ignorance or gross inefficiency in
his or her profession;
(6) Being convicted of a felony; and a certified copy of the
record of the court of conviction shall be sufficient proof of
conviction;
(7) Announcing or otherwise holding himself or herself out to
the public as a specialist or as being specially qualified in any
particular branch of dentistry or as giving special attention to
any branch of dentistry or as limiting his or her practice to any
branch of dentistry without first complying with the requirements
established by the board for the specialty and having been issued a certificate of qualification in the specialty by the board;
(8) Failing to report to the board within 72 hours of becoming
aware thereof any life threatening occurrence, serious injury or
death of a patient resulting from dental treatment or complications
following a dental procedure; or
(10) Being guilty of unprofessional conduct as contained in
the American Dental Association principles of ethics and code of
professional conduct. The following acts or any of them are
conclusively presumed to be unprofessional conduct:
(A) Being guilty of any fraud or deception;
(B) Committing a criminal operation or being convicted of a
crime involving moral turpitude;
(C) Abusing alcohol or drugs;
(D) Violating any professional confidence or disclosing any
professional secret;
(E) Being grossly immoral;
(F) Harassing, abusing, intimidating, insulting, degrading or
humiliating a patient physically, verbally or through another form
of communication;
(G) Employing what are known as "cappers" or "steerers" to
obtain business;
(H) Obtaining any fee by fraud or misrepresentation;
(I) Employing directly or indirectly, or directing or
permitting any suspended or unlicenced person so employed, to
perform operations of any kind or to treat lesions of the human
teeth or jaws or correct malimposed formations thereof;
(J) Practicing, or offering, or undertaking to practice
dentistry under any firm name or trade name not approved by the
board;
(K) Having a professional connection or association with, or
lending his or her name to another, for the illegal practice of
dentistry, or professional connection or association with any
person, firm or corporation holding himself or herself, themselves
or itself out in any manner contrary to this article;
(L) Making use of any advertising relating to the use of any
drug or medicine of unknown formula;
(M) Advertising to practice dentistry or perform any operation
thereunder without causing pain;
(N) Advertising professional superiority or the performance of
professional services in a superior manner;
(O) Advertising to guarantee any dental service;
(P) Advertising in any manner that is false or misleading in
any material respect;
(Q) Soliciting subscriptions from individuals within or
without the state for, or advertising or offering to individuals
within or without the state, a course or instruction or course
materials in any phase, part or branch of dentistry or dental
hygiene in any journal, newspaper, magazine or dental publication,
or by means of radio, television or United States mail, or in or by
any other means of contacting individuals: Provided, That the
provisions of this paragraph may not be construed so as to
prohibit: (i) An individual dentist or dental hygienist from presenting articles pertaining to procedures or technique to state
or national journals or accepted dental publications; or (ii)
educational institutions approved by the board from offering
courses or instruction or course materials to individual dentists
and dental hygienists from within or without the state; or
(R) Engaging in any action or conduct which would have
warranted the denial of the license.
(b) The term advertising, as used in this section, shall be
construed to include any type of public media.
(c) Disciplinary action includes, but is not limited to, a
reprimand, censure, probation, administrative fine not to exceed
$1,000 per day per violation and mandatory attendance at
continuing professional education seminars.
§30-4-23. Reinstatement.
(a) Any dentist or dental hygienist against whom disciplinary
action has been taken under the provisions of this article shall be
afforded an opportunity to demonstrate the qualifications to resume
practice. The application for reinstatement shall be in writing
and subject to the procedures specified by the board by rule.
(b) The board may require a licensee to undergo a
psychological evaluation to determine a licensee is competent to
make decisions or if the licensee is impaired by drugs or alcohol.
§30-4-28. Dental corporations.
(a) All dental corporations created prior to July 1, 2001, are
hereby continued.
(b) One or more dentists may organize and become a shareholder or shareholders of a dental corporation domiciled within this state
under the terms and conditions and subject to the limitations and
restrictions specified by rule.
(c) No corporation may practice dentistry, or any of its
branches, or hold itself out as being capable of doing so without
a certificate of authorization from the board.
(d) When the Secretary of State receives a certificate of
authorization to act as a dental corporation from the board, he or
she shall attach the authorization to the corporation application
and, upon compliance with the applicable provisions of chapter
thirty-one of this code, the Secretary of State shall issue to the
incorporators a certificate of incorporation for the dental
corporation.
(e) A corporation holding a certificate of authorization must
register annually, on or before June 30, on a form prescribed by
the board and pay an annual registration fee in an amount specified
by rule.
(f) A dental corporation may practice dentistry only through
an individual dentist or dentists duly licensed to practice
dentistry in this state, but the dentist or dentists may be
employees rather than shareholders of the corporation.
(g) A dental corporation holding a certificate of
authorization shall cease to engage in the practice of dentistry
upon being notified by the board that any of its shareholders is no
longer a duly licensed dentist or when any shares of the
corporation have been sold or disposed of to a person who is not a duly licensed dentist: Provided, That the personal representative
of a deceased shareholder has a period, not to exceed twenty-four
months from the date of the shareholder's death, to dispose of the
shares; but nothing contained herein may be construed as affecting
the existence of the corporation or its right to continue to
operate for all lawful purposes other than the practice of
dentistry.
§30-4-29. Inapplicability of article.
The provisions of this article do not apply to:
(1) A duly licensed physician or surgeon in the practice of
his or her profession when rendering dental relief in emergency
cases, unless he or she undertakes to reproduce or reproduces lost
parts of the human teeth or to restore or replace lost or missing
teeth in the human mouth;
(2) A dental laboratory in the performance of dental
laboratory services as that term is defined in section one, article
four-b of this chapter while the dental laboratory, in the
performance of the work, conforms in all respects to the
requirements of article four-b and further does not apply to
persons performing dental laboratory services under the direct
supervision of a licensed dentist or under the direct supervision
of a person authorized under this article to perform any of the
acts in this article defined to constitute the practice of
dentistry while the work is performed in connection with, and as a
part of, the dental practice of the licensed dentist or other
authorized person and for his or her dental patients;
(3) Students enrolled in and regularly attending any dental
college recognized by the state board of dental examiners, provided
their acts are done in the dental college and under the direct and
personal supervision of their instructor;
(4) Students enrolled in and regularly attending any dental
college recognized by the state board of dental examiners may
practice dentistry in a public health setting, provided their acts
are done under the direct supervision of their instructor, adjunct
instructor or a dentist;
(5) Licensed or registered dentists of another state
temporarily operating a clinic under the auspices of a duly
organized and reputable dental college or reputable dental society,
or to one lecturing before a reputable society composed exclusively
of dentists; or
(6) The practice of dentistry by dentists whose practice is
confined exclusively to the service of the United States Army, the
United States Navy, the United States Public Health Service, the
United States Veteran's Bureau or any other authorized United
States government agency or bureau.