Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
(1)
Communications. All written correspondence should be
addressed to and filed with the Board of Registration in Medicine, Committee on
Acupuncture, at its official mailing address, 200 Harvard Mill Square, Suite
330, Wakefield, Massachusetts 01880.
(2)
(a)
Service. The Committee shall provide notice of its
actions in accordance with
801 CMR 1.01(4)(b) and
(5)(f), or otherwise with reasonable attempts
at in-hand service, unless the Respondent otherwise has actual notice of the
committee's action.
243 CMR 4.00 provides that the
Committee must notify parties, service maybe made by first class mail A notice
of appearance on behalf of a Respondent shall be deemed an agreement to accept
service of any document on behalf of the Respondent, including a Final Decision
and Order of the Committee. When an Administrative Magistrate has jurisdiction
over an adjudicatory proceeding, proper service by the Respondent includes
filing copies of all papers and exhibits with:
1. the Committee, care of the Director of the
Acupuncture Unit;
2. the
Administrative Magistrate assigned to the adjudicatory proceeding and
3. the Complaint Counsel assigned to the
adjudicatory proceeding. All papers served must be accompanied by a certificate
of service.
(b)
Notice to Committee Members. A Respondent (or his/her
representative) and other persons shall not engage in ex parte
communications with individual Committee members regarding a disciplinary
proceeding. Communications to Committee members regarding disciplinary
proceedings shall be in writing and directed to Committee members as follows:
Eight copies to the Executive Director of the Board of Registration in
Medicine, one copy to the Director of the Acupuncture Unit, and one copy to the
Director of the Enforcement Unit.
(3)
Date of Receipt.
Communications are deemed received on the date of actual receipt by the
Committee.
(4)
Computation of Time. The Committee shall compute time
in accordance with
801 CMR
1.01(4)(c).
(5)
Extension of
Time. The Committee in its discretion may extend any time limit
prescribed or allowed by
243 CMR 4.00.
(6)
Identification and Signature;
Paper Size. All papers filed with the Committee in the course of a
disciplinary proceeding must contain the name, address, and telephone number of
the party making the filing, and must be signed by either the party or an
authorized representative. Paper size shall be 8 1/2 inches by 11
inches.
(7)
Decisions
by the Committee; Quorum. Unless
243 CMR 4.00 provides
otherwise, a majority of members present and voting at a Committee meeting
shall make all decisions and the Committee shall record its decisions in the
minutes of its meetings. A quorum is a majority of the Committee, excluding
vacancies.
(8)
Availability of Committee Records to the Public.
(a) The availability of the Committee's
records to the public is governed by the provisions of the Public Records Law,
M.G.L. c. 66, § 10, and M.G.L. c. 4, § 7, clause 26, as limited by
the confidentiality provisions of the Committee's regulations. A file or some
portion of it is not a public record if the Committee determines that
disclosure may constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,
prejudice the effectiveness of law enforcement efforts (if the records were
necessarily compiled out of public view), violate any provision of state or
federal law, or if the records are otherwise legally exempt from
disclosure.
(b) Before the
Committee issues a Statement of Allegations, dismisses a complaint, or takes
other final action, the Committee's records concerning a disciplinary matter
are confidential.
(c) The
Committee's records of disciplinary matters, as limited by 243 CMR 4.02(8)(a)
and (b), include the following:
1. Closed
complaint files, which contain the complaint and other information, are public
records. The name of a complainant or patient and relevant acupuncture records
shall be disclosed to the Respondent, but this information is otherwise
confidential. The names of reviewers and the contents of complaint reviews
shall be confidential.
2.
Enforcement Unit files, which contain portions of complaint files (and related
confidential files) as well as papers related to adjudicatory proceedings and
attorney work product, are not public records and are confidential.
3. The Committee's files, which contain each
paper filed with the Committee in connection with an adjudicatory proceeding,
are public records, unless otherwise impounded or placed under seal by the
Administrative Magistrate or the Committee.
4. Records of the review and investigation of
statutory reports are not public records and are confidential.
5. Closed anonymous complaints, which are
determined to be frivolous or lacking in either legal merit or factual basis,
consistent with
243 CMR 4.03(3)(a)
are not public records and are
confidential.
6. Letters of
Agreement and related materials; except that, if the Committee suspends the
license of an acupuncturist for violation of the terms of a Letter of
Agreement, the fact that the acupuncturist had entered a Letter of Agreement
shall become public, and a general description of Letters of Agreement will be
provided, but the Letter of Agreement itself and the related materials shall
remain confidential.
7. Social
security numbers.
8. National
Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers and personal information collected during the
NPI application process shall be confidential, except to the extent that
federal or state law, or the Rules and Advisory Statements of the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) or the National Plan and Provider
Enumeration System (NPPES) require the information be disclosed or made
public.
(9)
Public Nature of Committee Meetings.
(a) All meetings of the Committee are open to
the public to the extent required by M.G.L. c. 30A, § 11A.
(b) As provided by M.G.L. c. 30A, § 11A,
a Committee meeting held for the purpose of making a decision required in an
adjudicatory proceeding is not open to the public. Evidentiary hearings before
individual hearing officers are generally open to the public, but the Committee
may carry out its functions under these rules in closed session if these
functions affect an individual licensee or patient, the licensee or patient
requests that the Committee function in closed session, and the Committee or
hearing officer determines that functioning in closed session would be
consistent with law and in the public interest.
(10)
Conditional Privilege of
Communications with the Committee. All communications with the
Committee charging misconduct, or reporting or providing information to the
Committee pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112, § 158, or assisting the Committee in
any manner in discharging its duties and functions, are privileged, and a
person making a communication is privileged from liability based upon the
communication unless the person makes the communication in bad faith or for a
malicious reason.
(11)
State or Federal Agencies, Boards or Institutions Designated to
Receive Investigative Records or Confidential Information. The
Committee is authorized by the Board to review written requests for the
Committee's investigative records or other confidential information from the
following agencies which are hereby designated to receive, upon Committee
approval, such information consistent with the Fair Information Practices Act
(FIPA), M.G.L. c. 66A:
(a) Massachusetts
Department of the Attorney General;
(b) Offices of the Massachusetts District
Attorneys;
(c) Massachusetts
Municipal Police Departments;
(d)
Massachusetts State Police;
(e)
Federal Trade Commission;
(f)
Office of the United States Attorney;
(g) U.S. Postal Inspector;
(h) U.S. Department of Justice, Drug
Enforcement Administration, and Federal Bureau of Investigation;
(i) Divisions of Professional Licensure and
Health Professions Licensure;
(j)
all other state Medical and Acupuncture Boards;
(k) Division of Insurance and the Insurance
Rating Bureau;
(l) Massachusetts
Health Data Consortium, Inc.;
(m)
Department of Public Health;
(n)
Massachusetts Department of Revenue;
(o) U.S. Internal Revenue Service;
(p) National Certification Commission for
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
All recipients of confidential information designated by
243 CMR 4.00 shall preserve
the confidentiality of such data and make it available to the data subject, to
the extent such access is required by FIPA.
