Help to avoid PHMP

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Has anyone gone to an inpatient facility in PA for a 'second opinion' in order to avoid being forced into the PHMP program? Please help if you have any advice. Thank you. 

Has anyone heard of a 'mental and physical' exam that's been done before? I heard that this could be a possibility if one rejects the original evaluation that was done. Anyone do this before or know anything about it? It's separate from a substance use disorder exam

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SheelaDavis said:

Google "List of Nurse Attorneys in PA" and you will see an AI generated list that gives contact info for Attorney's that are also Nurses.  There is a huge difference in a lawyer that says, "I have experience working with the BON's and legal issues with nurses," compared to......."I am an RN, and I am also an Attorney and I know the BON and BON issues inside and out."  Many, many attorneys will advertise that they "work with BON's and have experience with BON's and legal issues."  These type of attorney's aren't anywhere close to the level of expertise as an attorney who also has her or his undergrad degree before law school in nursing and is also an RN.  Choose a Nurse Lawyer.

I'm a physician and there just aren't good forums like this for physicians. I'm in a similar boat. I got a DUI leaving a beer festival last year. Told the medical board and was told to contact the Physician Health Program if my state (Alaska). I was given three places to get an evaluation (California, Georgia, Virginia). Payed 9K for the evaluation. I was negative in all the alcohol testing but still got diagnosed with alcohol use disorder. I also got diagnosed with marijuana use disorder. Was told I had to do up to 90 days inpatient rehab. I was in the process of getting a second evaluation when the medical board threatened to suspend my license and so I bent the knee and did the inpatient rehab (55 days and $30K). I just signed a 5 year contract today. Have to do 90 AA meetings in 90 days then 3 weekly. Soberlink breathalyzer 3 times daily, work monitor, home monitor, random urine drug screens. I'm still wondering if there is anything I can do to fight it even though I signed. I was never impaired at work. My initial evaluation deemed me unfit to practice (until I did the rehab) but they never talked to anyone I worked with. I go back and forth between being pissed off and accepting it). 

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NotaNurse2025 said:

I'm a physician and there just aren't good forums like this for physicians. I'm in a similar boat. I got a DUI leaving a beer festival last year. Told the medical board and was told to contact the Physician Health Program if my state (Alaska). I was given three places to get an evaluation (California, Georgia, Virginia). Payed 9K for the evaluation. I was negative in all the alcohol testing but still got diagnosed with alcohol use disorder. I also got diagnosed with marijuana use disorder. Was told I had to do up to 90 days inpatient rehab. I was in the process of getting a second evaluation when the medical board threatened to suspend my license and so I bent the knee and did the inpatient rehab (55 days and $30K). I just signed a 5 year contract today. Have to do 90 AA meetings in 90 days then 3 weekly. Soberlink breathalyzer 3 times daily, work monitor, home monitor, random urine drug screens. I'm still wondering if there is anything I can do to fight it even though I signed. I was never impaired at work. My initial evaluation deemed me unfit to practice (until I did the rehab) but they never talked to anyone I worked with. I go back and forth between being pissed off and accepting it). 

What's a home monitor?

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Specializes in ICU.

Unfortunately once you sign a consent order, they have you and there is no fighting it.  

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Nursejackie201 said:

Unfortunately once you sign a consent order, they have you and there is no fighting it.  

That's partially true in my experience. Yes, they do have you and there is now zero chance of getting out of monitoring. You are in, but......an attorney can Sometimes get your "sentence" reduced. The attorney will Possibly challenge the Board based on "common practice" or "common punishment" by the Board. This means.......the attorney takes your SUD eval and takes what is common for your state regarding length of time in monitoring for an alcohol/DUI offense and considering you were never impaired at work. If your state is giving 95 percent of people with a similar situation only 3 years or 4 years with the option to petition at 3 years, but you got 5 years, that could be considered Not Common Practice by the Board and an attorney could then possibly argue to get your contract reduced to 3 or 4 years, etc.

Yes, each case is different, but there are also similarities. For example, most states across the country give 5 years of monitoring for drug diversion. If a nurse gets 7 years of monitoring, that's not common and way outside of the norm and that's where a lawyer can have a field day.

As it pertains to the physician who posted. Get an attorney. The attorney will likely look at your situation/circumstances (DUI, never impaired at work) and compare that to other cases for physicians in your state with similar circumstances and then see what amount of time they got in monitoring and whether those physicians for DUIs are allowed to petition for early release at some point in the contract. If your an outlier compared to the other physicians and your time in monitoring or requirements are substantially longer or more difficult, that lawyer could Possibly make a difference.

Remember this....it's a catch 22 for the Boards with contracts. It's a common theme or belief that after a contract is signed, there is nothing you can do and it's 100 percent automatic. That's not true and here is why. If the Board and SUD evaluators deem you unsafe to practice due to substances or deem you to have an SUD, then legally, a lawyer can sometimes argue that the contract you signed may not be fully valid because at the time you signed it, you weren't fully competent to sign it based on your SUD (after all, the SUD eval place) said you were so sick that you needed 90 days of inpatient rehab in order to practice. That can work Against the Board with a savvy attorney because no contract in America is legal and valid, if the person signing it is not 100 percent competent to sign it. This is how attorneys often challenge contracts and monitoring agreements that a nurse/physician/pharmacist has already signed. And on many occasions, the attorneys are successful.

In the corrupt SUD eval places who are tied to Boards aggressive desire to diagnose someone with an SUD and often, falsely Diagnose them and then get the person to quickly sign a contract/Monitoring agreement, it can sometimes work Against the Board. People who are "impaired"  or who have "severe" SUD can't legally validate a contract. It sounds crazy, but attorneys have won in some of these cases, but they don't have to fully "win." The mere threat of the challenge of the validity of the contract is Sometimes enough for the Board to renegotiate the contract/consent order/monitoring agreement to more favorable terms.

Noticed I have used the word "Sometimes" in this post on several occasions. There are always exceptions. The lawyer could challenge/argue all of the above as stated......and still lose and no changes made to your monitoring agreement/contract, but sometimes, they actually ARE successful. If you have the money, it's definitely worth a shot.

Remember this.......physicians and nurses often think their Boards (nursing, medicine) are "Gods" and have the absolute final say so. Well, they don't. The BOMs and BONs are not God's and do not have the final say so. A Judge does. A court of law does. Boards are Always trying to prevent themselves from going to court in which their power and authority get reduced and the outcome ends up in the hands of an administrative law judge. This is why every BOM and BON has an attorney on staff. Their resources are limited and they do NOT want to go to court. They don't want to be challenged, but when they are challenged by an attorney, they often make some kind of middle ground deal. 99 percent of BOM and BON consent orders/Monitoring agreements never get close to a court of law (administrative law judge). For the less than 1 percent that do, the physician/nurse often has a FAR better outcome compared to not having an attorney. The BONs and BOMs absolutely ARE the final say so...........when a lawyer is not involved. When a lawyer is involved, things change, and they really change if that lawyer gets the case in front of an administrative lawyer judge (who then has absolute final say so, not the BOMs and BONs that are perceived as "Gods". The administrative law judge doesn't care about "The BONs policy," LOL. They care about the law and what is legal. "Because the BON said so" carries about as much weight in a court of law as a rotten sack of potatoes. But without an attorney or administrative law judge, those rotten potatoes carry great weight more than 99 percent of the time.

Hope this helps.

 

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Healer555 said:

What's a home monitor?

Someone who lives with you (partner, spouse, etc) if you have one who will send monthly reports to the Physician Health Program. 

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NotaNurse2025 said:

Someone who lives with you (partner, spouse, etc) if you have one who will send monthly reports to the Physician Health Program. 

Make sure that person has nothing to report. Your life is uneventful but good for 5 years. No health issues no problems 

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