In May, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) adopted updated and expanded guidelines on professional sexual misconduct. The new
31-page report of the FSMB Workgroup on Physician Sexual Misconduct replaces a 14-page document last updated in 2006. NCMB is proud that its current President-elect, Dr. Venkata Jonnalagadda, served on the workgroup that produced the new guidelines.
NCMB has worked diligently and in partnership with the NC General Assembly to ensure that it has sufficient authority to protect patients from sexual offenders and to make NCMB's handling of professional sexual misconduct cases more efficient and effective. NCMB's initial review of the new FSMB guidelines validate many of the changes and improvements that have been made to North Carolina law and NCMB policy. For example, North Carolina now has a
law that requires NCMB licensees to report any other physician or PA they believe has engaged in sexual misconduct with a patient, and recent changes to state law granted NCMB the authority to revoke or deny licensure to convicted sex offenders.
NCMB has established a workgroup to assess how current NCMB practices and state laws align with the recommendations contained in the new FSMB sexual misconduct guidelines, and determine if additional changes should be adopted.
