Protecting the Livelihood of Physicians
Frances Cullen has defended the livelihood of professionals for more than 25 years, guiding them through the professional license application process and defending their license against potential disciplinary action or criminal charges. Here are just a few representative cases involving physician clients:
A physician who completed another state’s application for licensure in haste entered an erroneous response regarding the completion of her Continuing Medical Education (CME), prompting that state to impose a public non-disciplinary order. The physician held active licenses in several states. Although the physician corrected the unintentional error, with other states poised to take action, Frances Cullen contacted and negotiated with the Georgia Medical Board and several other State Medical Boards to prevent reciprocal licensing action based upon her erroneous application response.
With a strong knowledge of crimes that could prompt exclusionary status by the Office of Inspector General (OIG Exclusion), Frances Cullen provided sound advice to numerous physicians and other healthcare providers, including physician assistants and nurses, who face criminal charges to thereby avoid the exclusion. In two cases, a letter from Frances Cullen to the Court explaining the potential impact of an OIG Exclusion helped the providers obtain a more favorable criminal plea.
When a state university terminated our client, a resident physician, from its residency training program based upon an allegation that he failed a pre-employment drug screen, we appealed the termination and our client was reinstated. At a hearing, we successfully challenged the collection process of the drug screen specimen at issue and presented overwhelming evidence that our client was not impaired. In a related case, we successfully defended our client in an investigation launched by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Likewise, we represented the client before the medical board, which closed its investigation.
In a case filed by the Georgia Composite Medical Board against a psychiatrist for improper prescribing practices, Frances Cullen prevailed at the initial hearing, with the administrative law judge finding no fault with the physician’s practice. The Board, on its own motion, reviewed the case and entered a contrary order seeking to discipline the doctor. Frances Cullen appealed to the Superior Court of Fulton County and prevailed, thereby preventing the imposition of any sanctions.