Bhama v. State Medical Board, 08ap-488 (2-24-2009)

2009 Ohio 819
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 24, 2009
DocketNo. 08AP-488.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2009 Ohio 819 (Bhama v. State Medical Board, 08ap-488 (2-24-2009)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bhama v. State Medical Board, 08ap-488 (2-24-2009), 2009 Ohio 819 (Ohio Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION
{¶ 1} Appellant, Savitri Bhama, M.D., appeals from the judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas affirming the order of appellee, State Medical Board of Ohio ("board"), permanently denying appellant's application to practice medicine and surgery in Ohio. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

{¶ 2} By letter dated March 14, 2007, the board notified appellant that it proposed to deny her application for a certificate to practice medicine and surgery in Ohio. The board's proposed action was based upon the allegation that appellant failed to truthfully answer the application question related to resignations and terminations from private or *Page 2 public medical practices. In particular, the board alleged that appellant failed to disclose that she had resigned from five positions and had been terminated from two positions during the course of her medical career. The board asserted that appellant's "acts, conduct, and/or omissions" constituted, in pertinent part, "[m]aking a false, fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading statement * * * in securing or attempting to secure any certificate to practice" in violation of R.C. 4731.22(B)(5). (State's Exhibit 1A.) The board further alleged that appellant falsely certified that the information she provided in the application was truthful and accurate. The board asserted that appellant's "acts, conduct, and/or omissions * * * constitute `violating or attempting to violate, directly or indirectly, or assisting in or abetting the violation of, or conspiring to violate, any provisions of this chapter or any rule promulgated by the board,' as that clause is used in Section 4231.22(B)(20), Ohio Revised Code, to wit: a failure to furnish satisfactory proof of good moral character as required by Sections 4731.29 and 4731.08, Ohio Revised Code." Id.

{¶ 3} Appellant requested an administrative hearing pursuant to Ohio Adm. Code 4731-13. The matter came before a board-appointed hearing examiner on September 4, 2007. In a report and recommendation filed September 28, 2007, the hearing examiner recommended permanent denial of appellant's application for licensure. After appellant filed objections, the board convened to consider the matter. Following discussion, the board, on November 14, 2007, entered an order adopting the hearing examiner's findings of fact and conclusions of law, thus permanently denying appellant's application for licensure.

{¶ 4} Appellant appealed the board's order to the common pleas court pursuant to R.C. 119.12. By decision and entry filed May 7, 2008, the court affirmed the board's *Page 3 order. Appellant timely appealed to this court and advances the following two assignments of error:

[I.] THE TRIAL COURT'S DECISION IS IN ERROR BECAUSE THE BOARD'S ORDER IS CONTRARY TO LAW AND NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL, RELIABLE, AND PROBATIVE EVIDENCE AS THE RECORD DOES NOT SUPPORT A FINDING OF INTENT TO DECEIVE AND MISLEAD.

[II] THE TRIAL COURT'S DECISION IS IN ERROR BECAUSE THE BOARD'S ORDER IS CONTRARY TO LAW AND NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL, RELIABLE, AND PROBATIVE EVIDENCE AS DR. BHAMA WAS NOT TERMINATED FROM THE CLINTON VALLEY CENTER AND IT WAS NOT AN INTENTIONAL FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.

{¶ 5} Documentary evidence and witness testimony provided at the administrative hearing generally established the following facts. Appellant was born in the former West Pakistan in 1934. She received her medical degree from Grant Medical College, University of Mumbai, Bombay, India, in the early 1960's. She completed a psychiatry residency program in the United States in the mid-1960's. As of the hearing date, appellant held active medical licenses in Michigan and Kentucky; her medical license in Washington had expired.

{¶ 6} On June 17, 2005, appellant filed an application for a certificate to practice medicine and surgery in Ohio. At the time, appellant was working in Kentucky and lived in Michigan; she sought an Ohio medical license to take advantage of employment opportunities in this state. Appellant testified that her brother initially completed the application for her; however, she admitted that she reviewed the application, made corrections to it, signed it, and submitted it to the board. *Page 4

{¶ 7} In the section entitled "Resume of Activities," appellant chronicled her employment history, noting the entities that employed her, the dates she was employed, and the positions she held. As pertinent here, appellant stated that she was employed from July 1966 to June 1968 as a staff psychiatrist at Ypsilanti State Hospital ("Ypsilanti") in Ypsilanti, Michigan; from July 1968 to July 1970 as a supervisory psychiatrist at Malcolm Bliss Mental Health Center ("Malcolm Bliss") in St. Louis, Missouri; from August 1973 to August 1974 as a senior staff psychiatrist at Veterans Administration Hospital in Allen Park, Michigan ("Allen Park"); from August 1974 to January 1977 as a senior staff psychiatrist at the Detroit Psychiatric Institute ("Detroit Psychiatric") in Detroit, Michigan; from October 1977 to August 1991 as a staff psychiatrist at the Clinton Valley Center ("Clinton Valley") in Pontiac, Michigan; from September 1991 to August 1996 as a staff psychiatrist for the Michigan Bureau of Forensic Mental Health Services at the Western Wayne Correctional Facility in Plymouth, Michigan ("Michigan Bureau"); and from December 2004 to "current" as a staff psychiatrist at the Penny Royal Center at the Western State Hospital ("Penny Royal") in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. (State's Exhibits 6, 8-12.) The "Resume of Activities" made no provision for, nor did appellant provide, an explanation for her leaving any of these positions.

{¶ 8} The application also included a section entitled "Additional Information," which required appellant to answer "Yes" or "No" to 25 separate questions. (State's Exhibit 6, at 24-27.) The instructions provided, as follows: "If you answer `YES' to any of the following questions, you are required to furnish complete details, including date, place, reason and disposition of the matter. All affirmative answers must be thoroughly explained on a separate sheet of paper. You must submit copies of all relevant *Page 5 documentation, such as court pleadings, court or agency orders, and institutional correspondence and orders. Please note that some questions require very specific and detailed information. Make sure all responses are complete." (Emphasis sic.) (State's Exhibit 6, at 24.) Appellant testified that she read these instructions.

{¶ 9} Appellant answered "No" in response to question three, which asked: "Have you ever resigned from, withdrawn from, or terminated, or have you ever been requested to resign from, withdraw from, or otherwise been terminated from, a position with a medical partnership, professional association, corporation, health maintenance organization, or other medical practice organization, either private or public?" Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2009 Ohio 819, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bhama-v-state-medical-board-08ap-488-2-24-2009-ohioctapp-2009.