SB 303 Summary

• Establishes a three-year statute of limitations for initiating disciplinary proceedings against licensed professionals, with exemptions for cases involving repeated negligence and sexual misconduct.

• Creates emergency suspension authority allowing the board to suspend or restrict a licensee's license based on probable cause for serious conduct including sexual misconduct, substance abuse, and other serious dangers to public health and safety.

• Defines disciplinary grounds and penalties for physicians and other licensed professionals, including specific requirements for controlled substance prescribing, mandatory medication agreements for long-term pain medications, and documentation of physician-patient relationships.

• Establishes default judgment procedures allowing boards to enter default decisions against licensees who fail to respond to disciplinary complaints, and provides civil penalties up to $5,000 per offense with a $25,000 maximum for continued violations.

• Modifies evidence rules in contested cases to exclude evidence challenging criminal convictions and guilty pleas when the conviction or plea has been admitted in the disciplinary proceeding.