The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 26 : Professions and Occupations

Chapter 031 : Physician Assistants

• § 1736. Unprofessional conduct

  (a) The following conduct and the conduct described in section 1354 of this title by a licensed physician assistant shall constitute unprofessional conduct; when that conduct is by an applicant or person who later becomes an applicant, it may constitute grounds for denial of licensure:

  (1) fraud or misrepresentation in applying for or procuring a license or in applying for or procuring a periodic renewal of a license;

  (2) occupational advertising that is intended or has a tendency to deceive the public;

  (3) exercising undue influence on or taking improper advantage of a person using the individual’s services, or promoting the sale of professional goods or services in a manner that exploits a person for the financial gain of the practitioner or of a third party;

  (4) failing to comply with provisions of federal or state statutes or rules governing the profession;

  (5) conviction of a crime related to the profession; and

  (6) conduct that evidences unfitness to practice in the profession.

  (b) Unprofessional conduct includes the following actions by a licensed physician assistant:

  (1) Making or filing false professional reports or records, impeding or obstructing the proper making or filing of professional reports or records, or failing to file a proper professional report or record.

  (2) Practicing the profession when mentally or physically unfit to do so.

  (3) Practicing as a physician assistant without a practice agreement meeting the requirements of section 1735a of this chapter, except under the circumstances described in subsections 1734c(b) and 1735a(e) of this chapter. The Board’s receipt of a practice agreement filed in accordance with subsection 1735a(f) of this chapter shall not be construed to constitute Board approval of the practice agreement or of its contents.

  (4) Accepting and performing responsibilities that the individual knows or has reason to know the individual is not competent to perform.

  (5) Making any material misrepresentation in the practice of the profession, whether by commission or omission.

  (6) The act of holding oneself out as, or permitting oneself to be represented as, a licensed physician.

  (7) [Repealed.]

  (8) Performing or offering to perform a task or tasks beyond the individual’s scope of practice.

  (9) Administering, dispensing, procuring, or prescribing any controlled substance otherwise than as authorized by law.

  (10) Habitual or excessive use or abuse of drugs, alcohol, or other substances that impair the ability to provide medical services.

  (11) Failure to practice competently by reason of any cause on a single occasion or on multiple occasions. Failure to practice competently includes, as determined by the Board:

  (A) performance of unsafe or unacceptable patient care; or

  (B) failure to conform to the essential standards of acceptable and prevailing practice.

  (c) A person aggrieved by a determination of the Board may, within 30 days of the order, appeal that order to the Vermont Supreme Court on the basis of the record created before the Board. (Added 1981, No. 100, § 6; amended 1985, No. 208 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. June 30, 1986; 1989, No. 250 (Adj. Sess.), § 47; 2003, No. 34, § 13, eff. May 23, 2003; 2011, No. 61, § 4, eff. June 2, 2011; 2019, No. 123 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)