Pacific Dental Services v. NM Board of Dental Health Care

CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 13, 2019
DocketA-1-CA-36235
StatusUnpublished

This text of Pacific Dental Services v. NM Board of Dental Health Care (Pacific Dental Services v. NM Board of Dental Health Care) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pacific Dental Services v. NM Board of Dental Health Care, (N.M. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

This decision was not selected for publication in the New Mexico Appellate Reports. Please see Rule 12-405 NMRA for restrictions on the citation of non-precedential dispositions. Please also note that this electronic decision may contain computer-generated errors or other deviations from the official paper version filed by the Supreme Court.

1 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

2 PACIFIC DENTAL SERVICES, INC.,

3 Plaintiff-Appellant,

4 v. No. A-1-CA-36235

5 NEW MEXICO BOARD OF DENTAL 6 HEALTH CARE,

7 Defendant-Appellee.

8 APPEAL FROM NEW MEXICO BOARD OF DENTAL HEALTH CARE 9 Dr. Charles Schumacher, DDS, Presiding Officer

10 Montgomery & Andrews, P.A. 11 Seth C. McMillan 12 Kari E. Olson 13 Stephen S. Hamilton 14 Matthew A. Zidovsky 15 Santa Fe, NM

16 for Appellant

17 Hector H. Balderas, Attorney General 18 Lori Chavez, Assistant Attorney General 19 Santa Fe, NM

20 for Appellee

21 MEMORANDUM OPINION

1 VANZI, Judge.

2 {1} Pacific Dental Services, LLC (Plaintiff), the managing member of a limited

3 liability company licensed as a non-dentist owner of several dentistry practices in

4 New Mexico, appeals the adoption of three regulatory amendments (the

5 amendments) to the occupational and professional licensing regulations by the

6 New Mexico Board of Dental Health Care (the Board). We affirm.

7 BACKGROUND

8 {2} The Board held three separate meetings on January 27, 2017: an initial

9 hearing to take public comment on proposed regulatory amendments, a committee

10 meeting to consider the impact of the proposed amendments on dental hygienists,

11 and a regular meeting for the Board to discuss and vote on the proposed

12 amendments. Plaintiff, through its counsel, was present at the initial public hearing,

13 along with several other members of the professional dental community. Because

14 this is a memorandum opinion and the parties are familiar with the case, we briefly

15 summarize the relevant portions of the three meetings as they relate to each of the

16 challenged amendments and reserve further discussion of the facts for our analysis

17 of the issues on appeal.

18 {3} The Board first proposed amending 16.5.1.24 NMAC to require non-dentist

19 owners to comply with the existing general record-keeping requirements applicable

20 to dentists, which require patient records to be kept for six years after a dentist

1 retires or stops practicing. Plaintiff commented that requiring non-dentist owners to

2 comply with the general record-keeping requirements would be redundant because

3 there is already a regulation that requires non-dentist owners to maintain patient

4 records for six years. See 16.5.9.8(L) NMAC. Additionally, Plaintiff argued that

5 the amendment would be confusing because non-dentist owners do not “practice[]”

6 or “retire[].” After the initial public hearing, the dental hygienist committee met

7 and voted unanimously to recommend adoption of the amendment without

8 comment. At the regular meeting following the committee meeting, the Board

9 noted the dental hygienist committee’s approval and voted unanimously to adopt

10 the amendment without further discussion.

11 {4} The Board also proposed amending 16.5.9.8(K) NMAC, a regulation

12 applicable only to non-dentist owners, which requires that “no person other than a

13 New Mexico licensed dentist shall have direct control or interfere with the dentist’s

14 or dental hygienist’s clinical judgment and treatment[.]” The amendment added the

15 language “including referrals or prescription of laboratory services.” Plaintiff

16 commented that the proposed amendment would be confusing and redundant in

17 light of existing regulations and statutes that prohibit anyone from interfering with

18 a dentist’s clinical judgment. The presiding member of the Board asked how the

19 amendment would affect Plaintiff. Plaintiff responded that while it already

20 complied with the existing statutes and regulations, it was concerned that the

1 amendment was targeting non-dentist owners. Plaintiff believed the Board was

2 targeting non-dentist owners by amending the regulation specifically applicable to

3 non-dentist owners instead of adopting a generally applicable regulation. The

4 dental hygienist committee subsequently voted unanimously to recommend

5 adoption of the amendment. During the regular meeting, the Board noted the

6 committee’s approval and voted unanimously to adopt the amendment without any

7 further discussion.

8 {5} Finally, the Board proposed amending 16.5.16.10(B)(4) NMAC, one of the

9 guidelines that the Board considers when imposing disciplinary action for

10 unprofessional conduct. Section 16.5.16.10(B)(4) defined “unprofessional

11 conduct” to include “failure to seek consultation whenever the welfare of the

12 patient would be safeguarded or advanced by referral to individuals with special

13 skills, knowledge, and experience[.]” The proposed amendment added the

14 following subsections to 16.5.16.10(B)(4) as specific examples of this type of

15 unprofessional conduct:

16 (a) an owner dentist or supervisor causing an employee 17 dentist to make a referral for dental treatment based on contractual 18 obligations when, in the judgment of the treating dentist, the welfare 19 of the patient would be safeguarded or advanced by referral to another 20 practitioner, and/or failure to notify the patient of such contractual 21 obligations for referrals;

22 (b) an owner dentist or supervisor causing an employee 23 dentist to use a dental laboratory due to contractual obligations when, 24 in the judgment of the treating dentist, the welfare of the patient 4

1 would be safeguarded or advanced by the use of another dental 2 laboratory.

3 Plaintiff voiced concern that the amendment would create uncertainty for licensees

4 in terms of knowing whether their conduct is sanctionable. Plaintiff also asserted

5 that current regulations and statutes already prohibit the conduct proscribed by the

6 amendment. The dental hygienist committee did not discuss or vote on the

7 amendment. During the regular meeting, the Board voted unanimously to adopt the

8 amendment after briefly considering tabling it to consider its possible legal

9 ramifications.

10 {6} Plaintiff subsequently brought this appeal pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section

11 61-1-31(A) (1981).

12 DISCUSSION

13 Plaintiff Has Standing to Appeal

14 {7} At the outset, we address the Board’s argument that Plaintiff lacks statutory

15 standing to appeal the Board’s adoption of the amendments. “Whether a party has

16 standing to litigate a particular issue is a question of law, which we review de

17 novo.” Nass-Romero v. Visa U.S.A. Inc., 2012-NMCA-058, ¶ 6, 279 P.3d 772

18 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “[S]tanding is a jurisdictional

19 prerequisite where an action is created by statute and the statute specifies that only

20 a limited class of plaintiffs who satisfy certain conditions may sue.” Phoenix

21 Funding, LLC v. Aurora Loan Servs., LLC, 2017-NMSC-010, ¶ 19, 390 P.3d 174. 5

1 In determining whether a party has standing under a statute, “we must look to the

2 Legislature’s intent as expressed in the [a]ct or other relevant authority.” Key v.

3 Chrysler Motors Corp., 1996-NMSC-038, ¶ 11, 121 N.M. 764,

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Pacific Dental Services v. NM Board of Dental Health Care, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pacific-dental-services-v-nm-board-of-dental-health-care-nmctapp-2019.