Tougher licensing exam for doctors in Nevada proposed

Monday, Sept. 13, 2004 | 10:54 a.m.

RENO -- The state Board of Medical Examiners is proposing making it a little tougher to be licensed as a doctor in Nevada.

Currently people who graduate from a medical school can take the three-part national medical licensing examination as many times as they want to pass. There also is no time limit on how long a person has to pass the examination.

The state board, at its meeting Friday, directed its staff to start drafting a regulation that would require potential doctors to pass the three-step examination within seven years. Individuals could take the test five times in that period.

The regulation will have to go to workshops and public hearings before it returns to the board for final approval.

Tony Clark, executive director of the state board, said there was one person with an offshore medical education who took the examination 19 times before she passed.

"That strikes me that she didn't have the proper medical background," Clark said.

The person was given a limited license to practice in the medical residency program of the University of Nevada School of Medicine. She will have to return in three years to apply for an unlimited license.

The board said that those who are candidates for both a medical license and a doctorate would have 10 years to pass the examination, but would still be limited to taking the test five times.

The board also agreed to ask the 2005 Legislature to restore some of its power to discipline or deny a license to an errant doctor.

The board wants the authority to act when a doctor is convicted of a crime of moral turpitude or unprofessional conduct as determined by the board's regulations.

The 2003 Legislature eliminated the authority of the board to proceed with disciplinary actions in cases where there was an offense "of moral turpitude or any offense relating to the practice of medicine or the ability to practice medicine."

It is also asking the Legislature to allow its investigative committee to issue a letter, warning or admonishment to a doctor who may have violated, or who is about to violate, any part of the medical law. The board also supports the reinstatement of the medical-legal screening panel before which patient malpractice claims must first be considered prior to a civil suit being filed.

In other action, the board voted to issue a written reprimand to Dr. Richard L. Wagner of Las Vegas. Wagner is accused of changing a medical record.

The board reached a settlement with Dr. Karen Giarrusso of Las Vegas to dismiss a complaint against her in which she was accused of failing to give a urine sample to test for alcohol or drugs. Giarrusso denied the allegation and said all of her samples have come up clean.

The board agreed to notify a national registry of doctors that the complaint against Giarrusso has been dropped.

The board also agreed to give licenses to 19 doctors who applied to practice in Nevada.