                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT; GROUNDS FOR REFUSAL OR DISCIPLINARY ACTION (§
54.1-2915)

A. The Board may refuse to issue a certificate or license to any applicant;
reprimand any person; place any person on probation for such time as it may
designate; impose a monetary penalty or terms as it may designate on any person;
suspend any license for a stated period of time or indefinitely; or revoke any
license for any of the following acts of unprofessional conduct:

   1. False statements or representations or fraud or deceit in obtaining
   admission to the practice, or fraud or deceit in the practice of any branch of
   the healing arts;

   2. Substance abuse rendering him unfit for the performance of his professional
   obligations and duties;

   3. Intentional or negligent conduct in the practice of any branch of the
   healing arts that causes or is likely to cause injury to a patient or
   patients;

   4. Mental or physical incapacity or incompetence to practice his profession
   with safety to his patients and the public;

   5. Restriction of a license to practice a branch of the healing arts in
   another state, the District of Columbia, a United States possession or
   territory, or a foreign jurisdiction, or for an entity of the federal
   government;

   6. Undertaking in any manner or by any means whatsoever to procure or perform
   or aid or abet in procuring or performing a criminal abortion;

   7. Engaging in the practice of any of the healing arts under a false or
   assumed name, or impersonating another practitioner of a like, similar, or
   different name;

   8. Prescribing or dispensing any controlled substance with intent or knowledge
   that it will be used otherwise than medicinally, or for accepted therapeutic
   purposes, or with intent to evade any law with respect to the sale, use, or
   disposition of such drug;

   9. Violating provisions of this chapter on division of fees or practicing any
   branch of the healing arts in violation of the provisions of this chapter;

   10. Knowingly and willfully committing an act that is a felony under the laws
   of the Commonwealth or the United States, or any act that is a misdemeanor
   under such laws and involves moral turpitude;

   11. Aiding or abetting, having professional connection with, or lending his
   name to any person known to him to be practicing illegally any of the healing
   arts;

   12. Conducting his practice in a manner contrary to the standards of ethics of
   his branch of the healing arts;

   13. Conducting his practice in such a manner as to be a danger to the health
   and welfare of his patients or to the public;

   14. Inability to practice with reasonable skill or safety because of illness
   or substance abuse;

   15. Publishing in any manner an advertisement relating to his professional
   practice that contains a claim of superiority or violates Board regulations
   governing advertising;

   16. Performing any act likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public;

   17. Violating any provision of statute or regulation, state or federal,
   relating to the manufacture, distribution, dispensing, or administration of
   drugs;

   18. Violating or cooperating with others in violating any of the provisions of
   Chapters 1 (&#xA7; 54.1-100 et seq.), 24 (&#xA7; 54.1-2400 et seq.) and this
   chapter or regulations of the Board;

   19. Engaging in sexual contact with a patient concurrent with and by virtue of
   the practitioner and patient relationship or otherwise engaging at any time
   during the course of the practitioner and patient relationship in conduct of a
   sexual nature that a reasonable patient would consider lewd and offensive;

   20. Conviction in any state, territory, or country of any felony or of any
   crime involving moral turpitude;

   21. Adjudication of legal incompetence or incapacity in any state if such
   adjudication is in effect and the person has not been declared restored to
   competence or capacity;

   22. Performing the services of a medical examiner as defined in 49 C.F.R.
   &#xA7; 390.5 if, at the time such services are performed, the person
   performing such services is not listed on the National Registry of Certified
   Medical Examiners as provided in 49 C.F.R. &#xA7; 390.109 or fails to meet the
   requirements for continuing to be listed on the National Registry of Certified
   Medical Examiners as provided in 49 C.F.R. &#xA7; 390.111;

   23. Failing or refusing to complete and file electronically using the
   Electronic Death Registration System any medical certification in accordance
   with the requirements of subsection C of &#xA7; 32.1-263. However, failure to
   complete and file a medical certification electronically using the Electronic
   Death Registration System in accordance with the requirements of subsection C
   of &#xA7; 32.1-263 shall not constitute unprofessional conduct if such failure
   was the result of a temporary technological or electrical failure or other
   temporary extenuating circumstance that prevented the electronic completion
   and filing of the medical certification using the Electronic Death
   Registration System; or

   24. Engaging in a pattern of violations of &#xA7; 38.2-3445.01.

B. The commission or conviction of an offense in another state, territory, or
country, which if committed in Virginia would be a felony, shall be treated as a
felony conviction or commission under this section regardless of its designation
in the other state, territory, or country.

C. The Board shall refuse to issue a certificate or license to any applicant if
the candidate or applicant has had his certificate or license to practice a
branch of the healing arts revoked or suspended, and has not had his certificate
or license to so practice reinstated, in another state, the District of
Columbia, a United States possession or territory, or a foreign jurisdiction.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 54-316, 54-317; 1954, c. 627; 1958, cc. 161, 461; 1966,
cc. 166, 657; 1968, c. 582; 1970, c. 69; 1973, c. 529; 1975, c. 508; 1978, c.
622; 1979, c. 727; 1980, c. 157; 1985, c. 96; 1986, cc. 86, 434; 1988, c. 765;
1993, c. 991; 1997, c. 801; 2003, cc. 753, 762; 2004, c. 64; 2005, c. 163; 2013,
c. 144; 2017, c. 171; 2019, cc. 213, 224; 2020, cc. 1080, 1081.