Six candidates vie for director of Board of Medical Examiners

By Cy Ryan

Friday, Sept. 19, 2014 | 5:13 p.m.

CARSON CITY — Six candidates, five of them lawyers, have applied to become the $110,000-a-year director of the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners that regulates doctors.

The board will hold a special meeting Wednesday to interview the candidates and possibly make a selection.

Douglas Cooper, who has been the executive director for more than 12 years, is resigning effective Jan. 1. The next director will start Nov. 1, allowing for a transitionary period.

The applicants are:

• Edward A. Cousineau, who has been deputy director since 2010 and before that was general counsel to the board. He has worked for the board for 10 years and is considered the inside legal expert in handling disciplinary cases and regulations.

• Brian Scroggins is the only non-lawyer applying for the job, but his resume includes serving as administrator of the state Employee Management Relations Board, a member of the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects and on the Clean Water Coalition in Clark County. He has held a Nevada’s Contractors Board license for 20 years.

• Nick A. Moschetti is a lawyer with 21 years experience representing the Medical Examiners Board in such things as licensing of physicians and other matters. He served as the hearing officer for the board while continuing his private law practice.

• Thoran Towler, also a lawyer, now is Nevada labor commissioner. He served as a deputy attorney general, representing various state agencies, and also represented Carson City Health and Human Services.

• Michele Petty is a practicing attorney in San Antonio, Texas, and has represented nurses before the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners and has represented victims of medical, dental, legal and veterinary negligence.

• Susan Lynn Hilger is a Las Vegas lawyer and an adjunct professor at Touro University. She has been legal counsel for several medical groups.