Board hesitant to ease rules for outside doctors

Monday, Sept. 8, 2003 | 11 a.m.

RENO -- The state Board of Medical Examiners is taking a cautious approach to a new law that permits doctors who are licensed in other states to come to Nevada to practice even if they do not meet the higher standards of this state.

The board, which licenses and disciplines physicians, has prided itself on having some of the strictest requirements in the nation for getting a license for a physician to practice here. Among the conditions are three years of progressive postgraduate work after medical school and passing an exam on basic medical competence.

The Legislature last spring unanimously passed Senate Bill 332, which among other things allows the state to license doctors who have already been licensed in other states if the doctors have passed a medical examiners-approved test and meet the other Nevada requirements. The law became effective June 9.

Some board officials fear this will lead to less qualified physicians being licensed.

Board General Counsel Richard Legarza called the law "bad legislation." He said it gives the board "little if any opportunity" to test a licensed physician in another state who wants to come to Nevada.

"I recommend we never issue a license by endorsement," Legarza said.

But Dr. Cheryl Hug-English, president of the board, said that some doctors, even leaders in the field of medicine who may have been practicing for 10 to 20 years, do not want to try for a license in Nevada because they would have to pass the examination.

Board members said it takes up to two months to study for the examination.

Hug-English said Senate Bill 332 was prompted by a case in which a doctor was hired to become state health officer, but it was discovered he did not meet Nevada's standards so he lost the job before he ever arrived.

Lynnette Krotke, chief license specialist for the board, said 19 applications have been received from out-of-state doctors who want to be licensed in Nevada. She said they include one from a 70-year-old doctor who has failed the test four times and has not practiced since 2000. One applicant had three malpractice cases against him.

Krotke told the board, however, that there were also qualified doctors who applied.

The law gives the board the discretion to license out-of-state doctors who don't meet the standards. Board members said if they automatically reject all applicants, the Legislature may make it mandatory in 2005 to accept licensed doctors from other states.

Hug-English said the law will mean the board will have to review more applicants.

"This opens the door to a lot of people we say no to," she said.

But, she added, there were qualified applicants who should be allowed to practice in Nevada.

The board agreed to a compromise offered by its executive secretary Larry Lessly that an out-of-state doctor could either take the exam or provide other proof of competency. This might entail the physician being examined by a panel of his or her peers.

In the first case involving the new law, the board on Friday declined to issue an automatic license to Dr. Kathleen Smith, who is licensed in New York. But the board said that if Smith takes and passes the exam, she will be granted a license.

Tony Clark, deputy executive director for the board, said Smith has intended to take the exam and that she has job offers at the hospital at Nellis Air Force Base and at a hospital in Henderson.

In other action the board Friday revoked the license of Dr. Everett C. Freer Jr. of Pahrump, who was convicted of molesting a 12-year-old girl.

The board ordered Freer to pay investigative costs and it will issue a public letter of reprimand. A board spokesman said this was one of the most severe penalties possible.

Freer was placed on five years' probation in May in district court and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and not contact the girl or a witness who testified against him unless it is approved by the state Parole and Probation Division.

Freer is prohibited from having sexually explicit material and cannot enter businesses that offer sexually related forms of entertainment.