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17-95-704. Arkansas State Medical Board — Treatment — Prohibitions.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
17-95-704. Arkansas State Medical Board — Treatment — Prohibitions.
(a)(1) A physician shall not be subject to disciplinary action by the Arkansas State Medical Board solely for prescribing dangerous or controlled drugs for the relief of chronic intractable pain.
(2)(A)(i) Any allegation of improper prescribing determined to require a board hearing shall be referred to the Pain Management Review Committee before any board hearing or action.
(ii)(a) However, in exceptional limited substantive instances requiring immediate action to protect the public health, an emergency action under § 25-15-211(c) may be implemented.
(b) The implementation of an emergency action under § 25-15-211(c) shall in no way be used by the board to circumvent, void, supplant, or otherwise limit the role of the committee as provided in this subchapter.
(B) The board shall provide the committee all necessary documentation for the review process in a timely manner.
(3) The board shall direct the committee to use the criteria under subsections (d) and (e) of this section to review a physician's conduct in regard to prescribing, administering, ordering, or dispensing pain medications and other drugs necessary to treat chronic intractable pain.
(4)(A) If the board determines that an allegation or a question regarding a physician's prescribing does not justify a board hearing, in lieu of a board hearing, the board may refer a physician to the committee for review and recommendations to the board.
(B) The review and recommendations under subdivision (a)(4)(A) of this section shall not adversely affect the physician's license or licensure status.
(b) The board shall:
(1) Make reasonable efforts to notify healthcare providers under its jurisdiction of the existence of this subchapter;
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 17-95-704
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
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Record provenance
Stable record: arkansas_code:legal_authorities:17-95-704
Source file: gov.ar.code.title.17.odt
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: 2cb8a4bec7581c5777120ffe57f6be4df5af2529d37dd7e24a0b4012e86ae97d
Source location: content.xml paragraph 29186
Stored source content
17-95-704. Arkansas State Medical Board — Treatment — Prohibitions.
(a)(1) A physician shall not be subject to disciplinary action by the Arkansas State Medical Board solely for prescribing dangerous or controlled drugs for the relief of chronic intractable pain.
(2)(A)(i) Any allegation of improper prescribing determined to require a board hearing shall be referred to the Pain Management Review Committee before any board hearing or action.
(ii)(a) However, in exceptional limited substantive instances requiring immediate action to protect the public health, an emergency action under § 25-15-211(c) may be implemented.
(b) The implementation of an emergency action under § 25-15-211(c) shall in no way be used by the board to circumvent, void, supplant, or otherwise limit the role of the committee as provided in this subchapter.
(B) The board shall provide the committee all necessary documentation for the review process in a timely manner.
(3) The board shall direct the committee to use the criteria under subsections (d) and (e) of this section to review a physician's conduct in regard to prescribing, administering, ordering, or dispensing pain medications and other drugs necessary to treat chronic intractable pain.
(4)(A) If the board determines that an allegation or a question regarding a physician's prescribing does not justify a board hearing, in lieu of a board hearing, the board may refer a physician to the committee for review and recommendations to the board.
(B) The review and recommendations under subdivision (a)(4)(A) of this section shall not adversely affect the physician's license or licensure status.
(b) The board shall:
(1) Make reasonable efforts to notify healthcare providers under its jurisdiction of the existence of this subchapter;
(2) Inform any healthcare provider licensed by the board and investigated regarding the provider's practices in the management of pain of the existence of this subchapter; and
(3)(A) In a disciplinary hearing, present opinion evidence from a full-time active practice physician in direct patient care who is knowledgeable in pain management.
(B) The physician has the right to present testimony from a full-time active practice physician in direct patient care who is knowledgeable in pain management.
(c)(1) In lieu of a finding of gross and ignorant malpractice, the board after a hearing may incrementally impose sanctions as follows:
(A) Monitor prescribing habits of the physician not to exceed six (6) months;
(B) Require the physician to voluntarily surrender his or her United States Drug Enforcement Administration license to the board for a specified period of time not to exceed three (3) months;
(C) Suspend the physician's license, stay the suspension, and require monitoring of prescribing habits;
(D) Revoke the physician's license, stay revocation, and require monitoring of the physician's prescribing habits for a specified time; and
(E) Revoke the physician's license for serious violations of statutes and rules.
(2) With a finding of severe violation of statutes and rules, the board may initially impose the more severe sanctions.
(3) At any level of sanction, the board may require continuing medical education hours in proper prescribing habits.
(d) Based upon evaluation and management of a patient's individual needs, a physician may:
(1) Treat a patient who develops chronic intractable pain with a dangerous or controlled drug to relieve the patient's pain;
(2) Continue to treat the patient for as long as the pain persists;
(3) Treat the pain by managing it with dangerous or controlled drugs in amounts or combinations that may not be appropriate for treating another medical condition;
(4) Administer large doses of dangerous or controlled drugs for pain management if the benefit of relief outweighs the risk of the large dose; and
(5) Administer a large dose of a dangerous or controlled drug even if its use may increase the risk of death if the purpose is not to cause or assist in a patient's death.
(e) A physician may not:
(1) Prescribe or administer dangerous or controlled drugs intended to manage chronic intractable pain to treat a patient for chemical dependency on drugs or controlled substances;
(2) Prescribe or administer dangerous or controlled drugs to a person the physician knows to be using drugs for nontherapeutic purposes;
(3) Prescribe or administer dangerous or controlled drugs to a person for other than legitimate medical purposes; or
(4)(A) Cause or assist in causing the suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of any individual.
(B) However, causing or assisting in causing the suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of any individual does not include prescribing, dispensing, or administering medical treatment for the purpose of alleviating pain or discomfort even if that use may increase the risk of death so long as the treatment is not furnished for the purpose of causing or assisting in causing the death of the individual.
Cross-references
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Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
25-15-211. Administrative adjudication — Licenses — Definition.
(a) When the grant, denial, or renewal of a license is required by law to be preceded by notice and an opportunity for hearing, the provisions of this subchapter concerning cases of adjudication apply.
(b) When a licensee has made timely and sufficient application for the renewal of a license or a new license with reference to any activity of a continuing nature, the existing license shall not expire until the application has been finally determined by the agency and, in case the application is denied or the terms of the new license limited, until the last day for seeking review of the agency order, or a later date fixed by order of the reviewing court.
(c) No revocation, suspension, annulment, or withdrawal of any license is lawful unless the agency gives notice by mail to the licensee of facts or conduct warranting the intended action and unless the licensee is given an opportunity to show compliance with all lawful requirements for the retention of the license. If the agency finds that public health, safety, or welfare imperatively requires emergency action and incorporates a finding to that effect in its order, summary suspension of a license may be ordered pending proceedings for revocation or other action, which proceedings shall be promptly instituted and determined.
(d)(1) A complaint filed by an offender with a state licensing board or state licensing agency against a licensee of the board or agency shall not be heard by the board or agency unless the complaint is accompanied by appropriately verified documentation showing that the offender has exhausted all administrative remedies under the Division of Correction grievance procedure.
(2) For purposes of this section, “offender” means any
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 25-15-211
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 25-15-211. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.