P.R. Laws tit. 20, § 134c
The Medical Discipline and Licensure Board may restrict, suspend or revoke the medical license of any physician who is physically or mentally impaired to practice medicine safely and with reasonable skill; this physician shall be deemed to be unfit. The provisions of this chapter shall be implemented and consistent with the following:
(a) Disability is defined as the impairment of the licensee to practice medicine safely and with reasonable skill due to the following reasons:
(1) Mental illness;
(2) physical illness or condition, including but not limited to those illnesses or conditions which adversely affect cognitive capabilities or motor or perceptive skills, or
(3) whenever ability or capability is diminished by the use or abuse of alcohol, drugs, medications or controlled substances.
The Board shall have available a program approved by the entity for physicians with disabilities and be responsible for the management of physicians who need to be evaluated and receive treatment. These programs shall be provided through the support of the Board or through formal contracting with an independent entity whose programs meet Board standards.
The Board shall have the authority, in its discretion, to require that licensees or applicants submit themselves to a mental and physical examination or to a chemical dependency test conducted by an independent evaluating entity designated by the Board. The results of the examination or test shall be admissible in any hearing before the Board, regardless of any counter-privilege lawsuit, rule or statute. Any person who receives a license or applies for a license to practice medicine shall provide authorization to submit to any mental and physical examination or to a chemical dependency test and to waive any objection to the admissibility of the results thereof in any hearing before the Board. If a licensee or an applicant for a license to practice medicine fails to submit to the test when so instructed by the Board, unless failing to do so due to reasons beyond his/her control, the Board is hereby allowed to enter a final order by means of proper notice, hearing and contest of proof.
If the Board should find after the test and the consultation that the licensee is disabled, the Board shall have authority to take one or more of the following actions:
To direct the licensee to submit him/herself to care, counseling or treatment accepted by the Board, and
to suspend, limit or restrict the license of the physician for the duration of the disability and/or revoke the physician’s license.
Any licensee or applicant who has been prohibited from practicing medicine under the provisions of this chapter, may, at reasonable intervals, have the opportunity to prove to the satisfaction of the Board that he/she is able to begin practicing medicine safely and with reasonable skill. A license may not be reinstated, in any case, without paying the applicable fees and meeting all the requirements, as if the applicant had not been prohibited from practicing.
While all disabled physicians are to report before the Board pursuant to the mandatory reports required under this chapter, unreported or unidentified physicians shall be urged to undergo treatment. For this purpose, the Board shall have authority, in its discretion, to establish rules and regulations for the review and approval of a Medical Program addressed to physicians with disabilities. Those who complete the treatment program shall be relieved from the mandatory report concerning physicians with disabilities, or the Board shall retain his/her report until he/she completes the Program satisfactorily. The Program shall take measures in order for any disabled physician whose participation is unsatisfactory, to be immediately reported to the Board. The participation of a physician in one of the programs approved by the Board shall not constitute an impediment for the Board to make determinations based on information furnished by other sources. The Board shall be the final authority as pertains to the approval of any program, review Board-approved programs regularly, and allow for removal or deny approval, in its discretion. The Program must report to the Board any information relative to any violation of the medical practice by a participant, even if the violation is not related to the disability of the individual.
History —Aug. 1, 2008, No. 139, § 29, eff. Jan 1, 2009.