                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

UNLAWFUL ACTS; PROSECUTION; PROCEEDINGS IN EQUITY; CIVIL PENALTY (§ 54.1-111)

A. It is unlawful for any person, partnership, corporation, or other entity to
engage in any of the following acts:

   1. Practicing a profession or occupation without holding a valid license as
   required by statute or regulation.

   2. Making use of any designation provided by statute or regulation to denote a
   standard of professional or occupational competence without being duly
   certified or licensed.

   3. Making use of any titles, words, letters, or abbreviations which may
   reasonably be confused with a designation provided by statute or regulation to
   denote a standard of professional or occupational competence without being
   duly certified or licensed.

   4. Performing any act or function which is restricted by statute or regulation
   to persons holding a professional or occupational license or certification,
   without being duly certified or licensed.

   5. Failing to register as a practitioner of a profession or occupation as
   required by statute or regulation.

   6. Materially misrepresenting facts in an application for licensure,
   certification, or registration.

   7. Willfully refusing to furnish a regulatory board information or records
   required or requested pursuant to statute or regulation.

   8. Violating any statute or regulation governing the practice of any
   profession or occupation regulated pursuant to this title.

   9. Refusing to process a request, tendered in accordance with the regulations
   of the relevant health regulatory board or applicable statutory law, for
   patient records or prescription dispensing records after the closing of a
   business or professional practice or the transfer of ownership of a business
   or professional practice.

B. Any person who willfully engages in any unlawful act enumerated in this
section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The third or any subsequent
conviction for violating this section during a 36-month period constitutes a
Class 6 felony. In addition, any person convicted of any unlawful act enumerated
in subdivisions A 1 through 8, for conduct that is within the purview of any
regulatory board within the Department of Professional and Occupational
Regulation, may be ordered by the court to pay restitution in accordance with
&#xA7;&#xA7; 19.2-305 through 19.2-305.4.

C. The Director of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation,
or his designee, may issue a notice to any person violating the provisions of
subdivisions A 1 through 5 or A 8 to cease and desist such activity.

D. In addition to the criminal penalties provided for in subsection B, the
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation or the Department of
Health Professions, without compliance with the Administrative Process Act
(&#xA7; 2.2-4000 et seq.), shall have the authority to enforce the provisions of
subsection A and may institute proceedings in equity to enjoin any person,
partnership, corporation or any other entity from engaging in any unlawful act
enumerated in this section and to recover a civil penalty of at least $200 but
not more than $5,000 per violation, with each unlawful act constituting a
separate violation; but in no event shall the civil penalties against any one
person, partnership, corporation or other entity exceed $25,000 per year. Such
proceedings shall be brought in the name of the Commonwealth by the appropriate
Department in the circuit court or general district court of the city or county
in which the unlawful act occurred or in which the defendant resides.

E. This section shall not be construed to prohibit or prevent the owner of
patient records from (i) retaining copies of his patient records or prescription
dispensing records after the closing of a business or professional practice or
the transfer of ownership of a business or professional practice or (ii)
charging a reasonable fee, in accordance with subsections B2, B3, B4, and B6 of
&#xA7; 8.01-413 or subsection J of &#xA7; 32.1-127.1:03, for copies of patient
records, as applicable under the circumstances.

F. Nothing in this section, nor &#xA7;&#xA7; 13.1-543, 13.1-1102, 54.1-2902, and
54.1-2929, shall be construed to prohibit or prevent any entity of a type listed
in &#xA7; 13.1-542.1 or 13.1-1101.1, which employs or contracts with an
individual licensed by a health regulatory board, from (i) practicing or
engaging in the practice of a profession or occupation for which such individual
is licensed, (ii) providing or rendering professional services related thereto
through the licensed individual, or (iii) having a legitimate interest in
enforcing the terms of employment or its contract with the licensed individual.

G. This section shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to all persons holding a
multistate licensure privilege to practice nursing in the Commonwealth of
Virginia.

HISTORY: 1979, c. 408, § 54-1.20; 1988, c. 765; 1993, cc. 129, 499; 1998, c.
470; 2001, c. 544; 2003, cc. 753, 762; 2004, c. 49; 2005, cc. 398, 642, 697;
2008, c. 358; 2017, c. 457; 2019, cc. 481, 517.