On October 31, 2019, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (“IDFPR”) sent out a mass email to nurses with professional nursing licenses in Illinois. Understandably, many nurses around the state were quite surprised and frightened to receive this official message from the IDFPR. However, this mass-email should not necessarily cause undue stress.
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Legal News, Articles, Actions, Decisions
How Failing to Check your Email could Result in the Suspension of your License
An aspect of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation’s (IDFPR’s) practice has been altered in a possible attempt to enter into the 21st century – but at a burden and cost to many licensed professionals with consequences that could result in a default suspension of a license to practice one’s profession.
Illinois Chiropractors: Scope of Practice and Duty to Refer
Chiropractors and Medical Doctors in Illinois are licensed under the Illinois Medical Practice Act. The only distinction between Chiropractic Physicians and Medical Doctors in Illinois is that Chiropractors may not use drugs or operative surgery in their practice. Both can treat any human ailment, disease, defect, or condition. The Chiropractor also has that same duties Read More
Disciplinary Conferences at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
A disciplinary conference is an informal meeting with an Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (Department) attorney assigned to prosecute a case, and with a member or members of the licensing board or committee of the licensee’s profession. An administrative law judge is not present during a disciplinary conference and no transcript of the Read More
Deciding Whether to Accept a Settlement Offer
Whether to accept or reject a settlement offer involving the reprimand, probation, suspension or revocation of a professional license is one of the most difficult decisions a licensee faces when he or she becomes the subject of a disciplinary case before the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation or any regulatory or administrative agency. Read More
Effects of Discipline of a Healthcare Practitioner’s License
The discipline of a license may be either a reprimand, probation, suspension, or revocation. As a result of a healthcare practitioner’s license being disciplined, a number of far reaching consequences may occur. Such consequences are not discussed at the settlement conference with prosecutors and prosecutors may not even be aware of the potential for such Read More
The Disciplinary Process at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
Background: The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (“the Department”) is responsible for administering and enforcing approximately thirty legislative Acts which regulate the practice of over 100 professions and occupations in Illinois. The Department has the authority to issue a license to practice a profession or occupation, and to revoke, suspend, or otherwise discipline Read More
What to Do When Investigated
With complicated regulations governing the practice of various professions and cultural forces that advocate assigning blame, the likelihood of a licensed professional being investigated is great. Here are a few things you can do to feel more in control of the situation. 1. Do not panic. You are not alone. Many of your colleagues have Read More
A Request to Surrender a DEA Registration
IMPORTANT UPDATE: The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation recently instituted a new policy providing that any settlement offer made by the Department for a case in which a healthcare practitioner has surrendered his or her DEA registration must include some period of suspension of the practitioner’s primary license and his or her Illinois Read More
Controlled Substances Record Keeping for Healthcare Practitioners in Illinois
This article applies only to medical doctors, dentists, podiatrists, veterinarians, physicians’ assistants, and advanced practice nurses who order, store, prescribe, administer, dispense, or “waste” controlled substances in Illinois. Although record keeping requirements found in the federal Controlled Substances Act apply to practitioners throughout the United States, there are specific requirements found under the Illinois Controlled Read More
Disclaimer: This web site is addressed to those who hold professional licenses issued by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and by similar licensing agencies in other states. Suggestions herein are, in most circumstances, valid for any type investigation, whether administrative, criminal, or civil. However, it should be noted that in some other states, one who holds a professional license may be required to submit to an investigative interview as a condition of being licensed. Whatever the circumstances, a licensed professional who becomes the subject of an investigation would be wise to immediately retain legal counsel. No content, whole or in part, is to be considered as “legal advice,” and by reading this document, no attorney-client relationship is formed with the Crick Walanka Law Group, Ltd.