Credentialing & Privileging

Montana court rules licensure alone is not enough to verify credentials

Credentialing & Verification Update, October 21, 2008

The Montana Supreme Court has ruled that the Montana State Board of Medical Examiners is not entitled to “quasi-judicial immunity”. Therefore, the board could potentially be liable for issuing a medical license to a physician whose license had been suspended in another state for violations related to fraud and substance abuse.

Despite the ruling affirming the board’s potential liability, the court affirmed a lower court’s judgment for the State, saying that the State did not owe a “duty of care” to a patient who died as the result of the physician’s negligence during a plastic surgery operation. In other words, the court said that because the board acts in the interest of the public, it cannot be held liable for harm to a specific patient.

The case, Nelson v. State, points out that even though State Medical Boards have the authority to hold hearings and make licensing decisions, boards are not infallible, and licensure is but one component of a practitioner’s credentials.

Read the entire judicial opinion from the Montana State Law Library.

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