Dixon v. Or. State Bd. of Nursing

419 P.3d 774, 291 Or. App. 207
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 4, 2018
DocketA162267
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 419 P.3d 774 (Dixon v. Or. State Bd. of Nursing) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dixon v. Or. State Bd. of Nursing, 419 P.3d 774, 291 Or. App. 207 (Or. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

AOYAGI, J.

*208Petitioner seeks judicial review of an order of the Oregon State Board of Nursing revoking her nursing license and nurse practitioner certificate based on conduct derogatory to the standards of nursing. On review, petitioner raises five assignments of error. We reject petitioner's second through fifth assignments of error without discussion. We write only to address petitioner's first assignment of error, in which she argues that the board applied the wrong standard of proof. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

We state the relevant facts as found by the board, along with undisputed procedural facts. See Gallant v. Board of Medical Examiners , 159 Or. App. 175, 177, 974 P.2d 814 (1999). Petitioner was a registered nurse and nurse practitioner who had worked in the field for 31 years. She worked at a hospital and also maintained a private practice providing Botox injections to clients. In conjunction with her private practice, petitioner wrote prescriptions, using prescription pads from her current employer and former employer without authorization. She also periodically *776wrote prescriptions for friends and family without performing the necessary medical assessments, keeping records, or engaging in follow-up care. Most significantly, she prescribed repeated courses of narcotic pain medication with multiple refills to a fellow nurse, K. When K was later arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants, possession of a controlled substance, and reckless driving, petitioner became very upset and was involved in a physical altercation with K. The board received a complaint related to that altercation, which led it to conduct an investigation.

After investigation, the board instituted revocation proceedings based on the foregoing facts. In those proceedings, petitioner argued that the board had to prove any allegations of fraud or deceit by clear and convincing evidence. In support of that position, she relied on Bernard v. Bd. of Dental Examiners , 2 Or. App. 22, 36, 465 P.2d 917 (1970), and Van Gordon v. Ore. State Bd. of Dental Examiners , 52 Or. App. 749, 765, 629 P.2d 848 (1981), both cases in which this court identified the clear and convincing evidence standard as the applicable standard of proof for fraud and deceit allegations *209in license revocation proceedings. The board rejected petitioner's argument, concluding in its final order, "The preponderance of evidence standard is the applicable standard of proof as to all allegations in this proceeding, including those involving fraud and deceit." It explained the basis for that legal conclusion at length in its opinion, essentially concluding that Bernard and Van Gordon are no longer good law.

Applying the preponderance standard, the board concluded that a number of the allegations had been proved. It ultimately revoked petitioner's nursing license and nurse practitioner certificate. On review, petitioner contends that the board erred in applying a preponderance standard to the allegations involving fraud or deceit. She contends that the correct standard for those allegations is clear and convincing evidence.

We review an agency's legal conclusions-including its determination as to which standard of proof applies-for legal errors. See Broadway Cab LLC v. Employment Dept. , 358 Or. 431, 437-38, 364 P.3d 338 (2015).

Nearly 50 years ago, we stated in Bernard , a dental license revocation case: "It is elementary that fraud or misrepresentation is never presumed and that even in a civil action the burden is on the person claiming it to establish its existence by clear, satisfactory and convincing evidence." Bernard , 2 Or. App. at 36, 465 P.2d 917. From that well-established principle, without further analysis or reference to the Oregon Administrative Procedures Act (Oregon APA), we concluded, "The rule in license revocation proceedings requires at least this standard." Id. We then cited an attorney disbarment case, In re J. Kelly Farris , 229 Or. 209, 219, 367 P.2d 387 (1961), as stating the substance of that standard. Bernard , 2 Or. App. at 36, 465 P.2d 917.

We appear to have cited Bernard only once for the proposition that the applicable standard of proof for fraud and deceit allegations in an agency proceeding is clear and convincing evidence. In Van Gordon , 52 Or. App. at 765, 629 P.2d 848 -another dental license revocation case-we summarily stated, citing Bernard , "In a license revocation proceeding *210

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Bluebook (online)
419 P.3d 774, 291 Or. App. 207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dixon-v-or-state-bd-of-nursing-orctapp-2018.