Chapter 500-8 UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
The Georgia State Board of Podiatry Examiners has the authority
to refuse to grant or to grant a license to an applicant, or to discipline a
podiatrist licensed in the State of Georgia if that individual has engaged in
unprofessional conduct. For the purpose of the enforcement and implementation
of this rule, unprofessional conduct is defined as, but not limited to,
practicing or aiding in the following:
| (a) |
Violating any order of the Georgia State
Board of Podiatry Examiners; |
| (b) |
Violating a statute, law, or any rule or regulation of this state, any other
state, the United States, or any other lawful authority, without regard to
whether the violation is criminally punishable, which statute, law or rule or
regulation relates to or in part regulates the practice of podiatry, when the
licensee or applicant knows or should know that such action is a violation of
such statute, law, or rule. |
| (c) |
Violating any Consent Order entered into with the Georgia State Board of
Podiatry examiners or any other licensing board. |
| (d) |
Violating any statutes and/or rules
relating to or regulating the practice of podiatry including, but not limited
to, the following:
| 1. |
The Georgia Podiatry Act
(O.C.G.A. T. 43, Ch. 34); |
| 2. |
The
Georgia Controlled Substances Act (O.C.G.A. T. 17, Ch. 13, Art. 2); |
| 3. |
The Georgia Dangerous Drug Act (O.C.G.A.
T. 16 Ch. 13, Art. 3); |
| 4. |
The
Federal Controlled Substances Act (21 USCA, Ch. 13); |
| 5. |
The Consumer Information and Awareness Act
(O.C.G.A. T. 43, Ch. 1, Art. 33); |
| 6. |
The Rules and Regulations of the Georgia
State Board of Podiatry Examiners; |
| 7. |
The Rules and Regulations of the Georgia
Board of Pharmacy, Ch. 480, Rules and Regulation of the State of Georgia,
particularly those relating to the prescribing and dispensing of prescription
drugs, Chapter 480-28. |
| 8. |
The Code
of Federal Regulation Relating to Controlled Substances (21 C.F.R. Par. 1306);
and |
| 9. |
O.C.G.A. 31-33 Health
Records. |
|
| (e) |
Been
convicted of any felony or of any crime involving moral turpitude in the courts
of this state or any other state, territory or country or in the courts of the
United States. As used in this paragraph, the term "felony" shall include any
offense which, if committed in this state, would be deemed a felony, without
regard to its designation elsewhere; and as used in this paragraph, the term
"conviction" shall be deemed to include a finding or verdict of guilty or a
plea of guilty, or plea of nolo contendere, regardless of whether an appeal of
the conviction has been sought; |
| (f) |
Knowingly performing any act which in any way aids, assists, procures, advises,
or encourages any unlicensed person or any licensee whose license has been
suspended or revoked by the board to practice podiatry or to practice outside
the scope of any disciplinary limitation placed upon the licensee by the
board; |
| (g) |
Practicing fraud,
forgery, deception or conspiracy in connect ion with an examination for
licensure, an application or a license renewal; |
| (h) |
Knowingly making misleading, deceptive,
untrue, or fraudulent representations in connection with the filing of any
insurance claim; |
| (i) |
Failing to
maintain appropriate records whenever controlled drugs are prescribed.
Appropriate records, at a minimum, shall contain the following:
| 1. |
The patient's name and address; |
| 2. |
The date, drug name, drug quantity, and
diagnosis for all controlled drugs; and |
| 3. |
Record concerning the patient's
history. |
|
| (j) |
Prescribing
for habitual drug users in the absence of substantial pediatric
purpose; |
| (k) |
Any departure from, or
the failure to conform to, the minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing
podiatric practice; |
| (l) |
Committing
any act of nonconsensual sexual intimacies, abuse, misconduct or exploitation
related to the licensee's practice of podiatry; |
| (m) |
Failing to conform to current
recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control (C.D.C.) for the
transmission of Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis B. Virus to patients. It
is the responsibility of all currently licensed podiatrists to maintain
familiarity with these recommendations, which are considered by the Board to be
minimum standards of acceptable and prevailing pediatric practice. (Copies of
the guidelines may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control, the
Department of Human Resources, or from the Board.) |
