1. (1) When the issue is whether a physician assistant is physically or mentally capable of practicing as a physician assistant with reasonable skill and safety to patients, then, upon a showing of probable cause to the Board that the physician assistant is not capable of practicing with reasonable skill and safety to patients, the Board may order and direct the physician assistant in question to submit to a physical, mental, or laboratory examination or any combination of such examinations to be performed by a physician designated by the Board. The expense of such examination shall be borne by the physician assistant who is so examined.
2. (2) Every physician assistant licensed to practice as a physician assistant in the state of Alabama who accepts the privilege of practicing by actually practicing or by the making and filing of an annual registration to practice shall be deemed to have given consent to submit to a mental, physical, or laboratory examination or to any combination of such examinations and to waive all objections to the admissibility of the examining physician’s testimony or examination reports on the ground that they constitute privileged doctor-patient communications.
3. (3) Upon receipt of credible information that a physician assistant has been evaluated or has received inpatient or outpatient treatment for any physical, psychiatric, or psychological illness or for chemical dependency, drug addiction, or alcohol abuse, the Board may order that the physician assistant execute and deliver to the Board an authorization and release form directed to each and every facility or treatment provider authorizing and directing the release to the Board of any reports of evaluation, mental, or physical, or examination, including psychiatric, psychological, and neuropsychiatric examinations, hospital and treatment provider medical records, reports of laboratory tests for the presence of alcohol or drugs, rehabilitation records, and mental competency evaluations. Any and all expenses incurred in the furnishing of the reports, records, or documents which are the subject of an order issued by the Board shall be borne by the physician assistant who is the subject of the order.
4. (4) Failure or refusal by the physician assistant to comply with an order of the Board directing the execution and delivery to the Board of an authorization and release form as provided in paragraph (3) herein shall constitute grounds for the summary suspension of the physician assistant’s license to practice. The suspension shall continue in effect until such time as the physician assistant complies with the order of the Board or the order is withdrawn by the Board.
5. (5) All reports, records, and documents released to the Board under the provisions of paragraph (3) herein are privileged and confidential and shall not be public records nor available for court subpoena or for discovery proceedings, but may be used by the Board in the course of its investigation and may be introduced as evidence in administrative hearings conducted by the Board.

Author: Alabama Board of Medical Examiners

Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§34-24-290, et. seq. and Act No. 08-378.

History: New Rule: Filed September 11, 2008; effective October 16, 2008.