SECTIONS 1695-1699 - California Statutes

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE

SECTION 1695-1699

1695. It is the intent of the Legislature that the Board of Dental
Examiners of California seek ways and means to identify and
rehabilitate licentiates whose competency may be impaired due to
abuse of dangerous drugs or alcohol, so that licentiates so afflicted
may be treated and returned to the practice of dentistry in a manner
which will not endanger the public health and safety. It is also the
intent of the Legislature that the Board of Dental Examiners of
California shall implement this legislation in part by establishing a
diversion program as a voluntary alternative approach to traditional
disciplinary actions.

1695.1. As used in this article:
(a) "Board" means the Board of Dental Examiners of California.
(b) "Committee" means a diversion evaluation committee created by
this article.
(c) "Program manager" means the staff manager of the diversion
program, as designated by the executive officer of the board. The
program manager shall have background experience in dealing with
substance abuse issues.

1695.2. One or more diversion evaluation committees is hereby
created in the state to be established by the board. The board shall
establish criteria for the selection of the committee. No board
member shall serve on any committee.

1695.3. Each member of a committee shall receive per diem and
expenses as provided in Section 103.

1695.4. The board shall administer the provisions of this article.

1695.5. (a) The board shall establish criteria for the acceptance,
denial, or termination of licentiates in a diversion program. Unless
ordered by the board as a condition of licentiate disciplinary
probation, only those licentiates who have voluntarily requested
diversion treatment and supervision by a committee shall participate
in a diversion program.
(b) A licentiate who is not the subject of a current investigation
may self-refer to the diversion program on a confidential basis,
except as provided in subdivision (f).
(c) A licentiate under current investigation by the board may also
request entry into the diversion program by contacting the board's
Diversion Program Manager. The Diversion Program Manager may refer
the licentiate requesting participation in the program to a diversion
evaluation committee for evaluation of eligibility. Prior to
authorizing a licentiate to enter into the diversion program, the
Diversion Program Manager may require the licentiate, while under
current investigation for any violations of the Dental Practice Act
or other violations, to execute a statement of understanding that
states that the licentiate understands that his or her violations of
the Dental Practice Act or other statutes that would otherwise be the
basis for discipline, may still be investigated and the subject of
disciplinary action.
(d) If the reasons for a current investigation of a licentiate are
based primarily on the self-administration of any controlled
substance or dangerous drugs or alcohol under Section 1681 of the
Business and Professions Code, or the illegal possession,
prescription, or nonviolent procurement of any controlled substance
or dangerous drugs for self-administration that does not involve
actual, direct harm to the public, the board shall close the
investigation without further action if the licentiate is accepted
into the board's diversion program and successfully completes the
requirements of the program. If the licentiate withdraws or is
terminated from the program by a diversion evaluation committee, and
the termination is approved by the program manager, the investigation
shall be reopened and disciplinary action imposed, if warranted, as
determined by the board.
(e) Neither acceptance nor participation in the diversion program
shall preclude the board from investigating or continuing to
investigate, or taking disciplinary action or continuing to take
disciplinary action against, any licentiate for any unprofessional
conduct committed before, during, or after participation in the
diversion program.
(f) All licentiates shall sign an agreement of understanding that
the withdrawal or termination from the diversion program at a time
when a diversion evaluation committee determines the licentiate
presents a threat to the public's health and safety shall result in
the utilization by the board of diversion treatment records in
disciplinary or criminal proceedings.
(g) Any licentiate terminated from the diversion program for
failure to comply with program requirements is subject to
disciplinary action by the board for acts committed before, during,
and after participation in the diversion program. A licentiate who
has been under investigation by the board and has been terminated
from the diversion program by a diversion evaluation committee shall
be reported by the diversion evaluation committee to the board.

1695.6. A committee created under this article operates under the
direction of the program manager. The program manager has the primary
responsibility to review and evaluate recommendations of the
committee. Each committee shall have the following duties and
responsibilities:
(a) To evaluate those licentiates who request to participate in
the diversion program according to the guidelines prescribed by the
board and to make recommendations. In making the recommendations, a
committee shall consider the recommendations of any licentiates
designated by the board to serve as consultants on the admission of
the licentiate to the diversion program.
(b) To review and designate those treatment facilities to which
licentiates in a diversion program may be referred.
(c) To receive and review information concerning a licentiate
participating in the program.
(d) To consider in the case of each licentiate participating in a
program whether he or she may with safety continue or resume the
practice of dentistry.
(e) To perform such other related duties, under the direction of
the board or program manager, as the board may by regulation require.

1696. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 9 (commencing with
Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code, relating to public meetings, a committee may
convene in closed session to consider reports pertaining to any
licentiate requesting or participating in a diversion program. A
committee shall only convene in closed session to the extent that it
is necessary to protect the privacy of such a licentiate.

1697. Each licentiate who requests participation in a diversion
program shall agree to cooperate with the treatment program designed
by the committee and approved by the program manager and to bear all
costs related to the program, unless the cost is waived by the board.
Any failure to comply with the provisions of a treatment program may
result in termination of the licentiate's participation in a
program.

1698. (a) After the committee and the program manager in their
discretion have determined that a licentiate has been rehabilitated
and the diversion program is completed, the committee shall purge and
destroy all records pertaining to the licentiate's participation in
a diversion program.
(b) Except as authorized by subdivision (f) of Section 1695.5, all
board and committee records and records of proceedings pertaining to
the treatment of a licentiate in a program shall be kept
confidential and are not subject to discovery or subpoena.

1699. The board shall provide for the representation of any person
making reports to a committee or the board under this article in any
action for defamation for reports or information given to the
committee or the board regarding a licentiate's participation in the
diversion program.