Ruben Aleman, M.D. v. Texas Medical Board, 573 S.W.3d 796

Background

Dr. Ruben Aleman hand‑certified a death certificate on paper for a patient who died July 16, 2011; the funeral director had ‘‘dropped to paper’’ the electronic record because Aleman was not yet registered in the TEDR electronic system.
Aleman later registered with TEDR but could not convert the already‑made certificate to electronic form; he was disciplined after the Texas Medical Board charged he violated the Health & Safety Code’s electronic certification requirement.
The Board’s complaint alleged violations of Health & Safety Code §193.002(4) and §193.005(h) and relied on the Medical Practice Act’s prohibition of "unprofessional or dishonorable conduct" including acts that violate state law connected with medical practice.
An ALJ and the Board found Aleman violated the Medical Practice Act and imposed sanctions: jurisprudence exam, $3,000 fine, CME hours (including ethics and risk management), and notice to health‑care entities.
The trial court and the Third Court of Appeals affirmed; the Texas Supreme Court granted review and addressed (1) sufficiency of the Board’s complaint, (2) whether the Act authorized discipline for Aleman’s conduct, and (3) entitlement to attorney’s fees.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Aleman)	Defendant's Argument (Board)	Held
Sufficiency of formal complaint under Tex. Occ. Code §164.005	Complaint lacked personal‑knowledge affidavit; staff attorney had no firsthand knowledge so complaint was not a valid affidavit	Complaint was a written, sworn affidavit by a board representative and satisfied the statute	Complaint met §164.005; Board had jurisdiction
Whether failing to certify a death certificate electronically is a "prohibited practice" under the Medical Practice Act (§164.052/.053)	Even if Aleman technically violated the electronic rule, that act is not "connected with" practice of medicine in a way "likely to deceive or defraud the public," so statute does not authorize discipline	Aleman’s manual certification violated state law (H&S §193.005(h)) and was connected to medical practice because he certified as the decedent’s physician, so it is disciplinable	Statute authorizes discipline only for acts connected with medicine in a manner likely to deceive or defraud the public; Aleman’s manual certification did not meet that standard; sanctions vacated
Whether impossibility or registration timing excuses noncompliance	Aleman argued it was impossible to certify electronically after the certificate was dropped to paper	Board said Aleman’s delay in registering caused the problem and did not excuse noncompliance	Court did not reach because it held the Act did not authorize discipline in the first place
Entitlement to attorney’s fees or sanctions for frivolous prosecution	Aleman sought fees under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch.10 and Tex. R. Civ. P.13 for bad‑faith allegations	Board and ALJ said SOAH lacks authority to award attorney’s fees in this administrative disciplinary proceeding	SOAH may impose certain sanctions but not attorney’s fees here; Aleman not entitled to recover fees

Key Cases Cited

City of DeSoto v. White, 288 S.W.3d 389 (Tex. 2009) (statutory requirements presumed non‑jurisdictional absent clear legislative intent)
City of Dallas v. Stewart, 361 S.W.3d 562 (Tex. 2012) (substantial‑evidence standard for agency fact findings)
Cadena Comercial USA Corp. v. Tex. Alcoholic Beverage Comm’n, 518 S.W.3d 318 (Tex. 2017) (statutory interpretation using plain meaning and context)
ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. v. Coleman, 512 S.W.3d 895 (Tex. 2017) (analysis of “in connection with” language and directness of nexus)
Collingsworth Gen. Hosp. v. Hunnicutt, 988 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1998) (what constitutes conduct "connected with" employment for statutory purpose)
Pub. Util. Comm’n v. City Pub. Serv. Bd. of San Antonio, 53 S.W.3d 310 (Tex. 2001) (scope of agency powers and necessary incidental authority)
Low v. Henry, 221 S.W.3d 609 (Tex. 2007) (sanctions statutes for courts; standards for awarding attorney’s fees as sanctions)
Melden & Hunt, Inc. v. E. Rio Hondo Water Supply Corp., 520 S.W.3d 887 (Tex. 2017) (legislative intent derived from enacted text)
State v. Flag‑Redfern Oil Co., 852 S.W.2d 480 (Tex. 1993) (agency contested‑case proceedings are not civil lawsuits for certain court rules)