PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

Appeals of disciplinary actions could become more open

A newspaper filed suit after a judge closed the disciplinary hearings of a South Carolina cardiologist whose license was suspended.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Sept. 5, 2005.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that an administrative law judge was wrong not to give a reason for closing the disciplinary hearings of a Hilton Head Island cardiologist.

An attorney in the case said the decision will mean less secrecy in administrative law court proceedings, which occur when a physician appeals a disciplinary order made by the state's medical board.

"The case will have application for future appeals for physicians and may make those appeals more open," said Jay Bender, an attorney for the Hilton Head Island Packet newspaper, which brought the case to court.

The Island Packet filed the lawsuit against Administrative Law Court Judge Marvin Kittrell after he closed disciplinary hearings involving the cardiologist. The South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners had temporarily suspended the doctor's license in July 2001, after it found the doctor had been arrested and charged with several alcohol-related offenses.

But the administrative law court overturned the suspension, ruling that the board gave insufficient evidence of a substance-abuse problem. In August 2001, the board again tried to discipline the doctor, but the administrative judge blocked the order and sealed the records.

In May 2004, the board placed the doctor on temporary suspension after learning he had attempted to treat a patient while impaired. The Island Packet asked to attend the appeal, but the court did not respond. The newspaper asked the state Supreme Court to rule on requiring the administrative law court to explain why the hearing was closed.

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