Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
Complaints received in the board office that allege impaired
practice will be processed in the following manner.
A. The complaint committee of the board shall
review the complaint to determine if the board has jurisdiction over the matter
and if the complaint may have merit.
B. If the complaint committee has reasonable
cause to believe that a person licensed to practice dentistry or dental hygiene
is unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety to patients because of a
condition listed in 16.5.2.8 NMAC, the committee shall refer the matter to the
board.
C. The board shall designate
an examining committee consisting of two licensed dentists or two licensed
hygienists, if the licensee is a dental hygienist and two licensed physicians,
one of whom shall be a psychiatrist who is knowledgeable and experienced in the
field of chemical dependency if a question of mental illness or dependency is
involved.
(1) The board may consider
nominations from the New Mexico dental association for dentist members or the
New Mexico dental hygienists' association for dental hygienist members of the
examining committee; the board may consider nominations from the New Mexico
medical society for the physician members of the committee; and
(2) no current member of the board or dental
hygienists committee shall be a member of an examining committee.
D. The examining committee shall
examine a licensee referred by the board to determine the licensee's fitness to
practice dentistry or dental hygiene with reasonable skill and safety to
patients, on a restricted or unrestricted basis. The committee may recommend
intervention as necessary.
(1) The examining
committee shall order the licensee to appear before it for hearing. The
committee shall give the licensee 15 days notice of the time and place for the
hearing and the reason for the examination. Notice shall be served personally
or by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested;
(2) if the examining committee feels that a
mental or physical examination of the licensee is necessary to determine the
licensee's fitness to practice, the committee shall order the licensee to
submit to the examination;
(a) a person
licensed to practice dentistry or dental hygiene gives consent to submit to a
mental or physical examination when directed to do so by the committee by
practicing dentistry or dental hygiene or filing an annual registration;the
licensee also waives objections on the grounds of privileged communication to
the admissibility of the report of the examining committee to the board or
dental hygienists committee; and
(b) a licensee who submits to a diagnostic
mental or physical examination as ordered by the examining committee has a
right to designate an individual to be present at the examination and make an
independent report to the board or dental hygienists committee;
(3) failure of a licensee to
appear for an examining committee hearing or submit to a mental or physical
examination shall be reported to the board or dental hygienists committee; this
may be grounds for the immediate and summary suspension of the licensee's
licensee to practice dentistry or dental hygiene unless the failure is due to
circumstances beyond the licensee's control; the suspension remains in effect
until further order of the board;
(4) the examining committee shall report its
findings and recommendations to the board.
