Report of Regents Professional Practice Committee to The Board of Regents

Your Professional Practice Committee held its scheduled meeting on December 16, 2013. All Committee members were present. Regent James C. Dawson was present for Executive Session, but did not vote on any case or action. Regent James R. Tallon, Jr. was present for Public Session, but did not vote on any case or action.

ACTION ITEMS

Professional Discipline Cases
Your Committee recommends that the reports of the Regents Review Committees, including rulings, findings of fact, determinations as to guilt, and recommendations, by unanimous or majority vote, contained in those reports which have been distributed to you, be accepted in 4 cases. In addition, your Committee recommends, upon the recommendation of the Committee on the Professions, that 28 consent order applications and 5 surrender applications be granted. [PPC EXS (A) 1-3]

In the case of Jason Anthony Earley, Massage Therapist, Calendar No. 26567, we recommend that, to clarify the manner in which respondent’s fine is to be paid, respondent’s $300 fine shall be paid by respondent by certified or bank cashier's check, payable to the order of the New York State Education Department, to be delivered to the Director, Office of Professional Discipline, New York State Education Department, 1411 Broadway - Tenth Floor – New York, New York 10018-3496, within six months after the effective date of the service of the order to be issued in this matter; and that the penalty recommended by the Regents Review Committee otherwise be accepted.

These recommendations are made following the review of 37 cases involving eight licensed practical nurses, six registered professional nurses, four licensed practical nurses who are also registered professional nurses, three massage therapists, one certified public accountant, one chiropractor, one dentist, one land surveyor, one licensed clinical social worker, one licensed master social worker, one pharmacist, one podiatrist, one respiratory therapist who is also a respiratory therapy technician, one veterinarian, and one veterinary medicine professional corporation.

Restorations
Your Committee recommends the following:

That the application of Thomas Butti for the restoration of his license to practice as a chiropractor in the State of New York be denied. [PPC EXS (A) 4]

That, after he has passed the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) and the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE) and has so notified the Director, Office of Professional Discipline (OPD), and said Director determines that he has satisfactorily met such conditions, the surrender of the license of William J. Rhodes to practice as a pharmacist in the State of New York be stayed; that he then be placed on probation for a period of three years under the Terms of Probation annexed to the Report of the Committee on the Professions as Exhibit A; and that, upon successful completion of probation, his license be fully restored. [PPC EXS (A) 5]

Approvals
Regulations Relating to Mental Health Practitioners Limited Permits [PPC (A) 1] – Proposed amendments to the Commissioner’s regulations relating to the Duration of Limited Permits in the Mental Health professions.

MOTION FOR ACTION BY FULL BOARD
Madam Chancellor and Colleagues: Your Professional Practice Committee recommends, and we move, that the Board of Regents act affirmatively upon each recommendation in the written report of the Committee's deliberations at its meeting on December 17, 2013, copies of which have been distributed to each Regent.

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION
Your Committee discussed several topics of interest, including:

Deputy Commissioner's Report/Update –

Full Board Consent Agenda Items
Licensing Petitions and Conferral of Degrees
Board (Re)Appointments
Degree Authorization – CUNY Board of Trustees College of Staten Island to award the degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.)
Degree Authorization – Montefiore School of Nursing to award the Associate in Science Degree in Nursing
Reappointment of Two Adjunct Members of the Regents Review Committee – Michael Lozman and Frank Muñoz
Regulations: Clinical Clerkships Advisory Committee – Proposed amendment increases from one to two the number of Regents on the Advisory Committee and authorizes the Chancellor to appoint additional Committee members, upon consultation with the Board. (Adopted as an emergency rule in September; permanent adoption in December with a second emergency action necessary to keep the emergency rule in effect until the effective date of the permanent adoption.)
Technology Update
Legislation (Scope of Practice)
Staffing/Productivity Update
Updates on OP Initiatives
Presentation: Update on the Professions of Social Work and Mental Health Practitioners – As part of a series of presentations to the Committee, an update was provided on the professions of social work, mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy, creative arts therapy, and psychoanalysis. [PPC (D) 1]