1. If the Board or any investigative committee of the Board has reason to believe that the conduct of any physician has raised a reasonable question as to his or her competence to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety to patients, or if the Board has received a report pursuant to the provisions of NRS 630.3067, 630.3068 or 690B.250 indicating that a judgment has been rendered or an award has been made against a physician regarding an action or claim for malpractice or that such an action or claim against the physician has been resolved by settlement, the Board or committee may order that the physician undergo a mental or physical examination, an examination testing his or her competence to practice medicine or any other examination designated by the Board to assist the Board or committee in determining the fitness of the physician to practice medicine.

2. For the purposes of this section:

(a) Every physician who applies for a license or who is licensed under this chapter shall be deemed to have given consent to submit to a mental or physical examination or an examination testing his or her competence to practice medicine when ordered to do so in writing by the Board or an investigative committee of the Board.

(b) The testimony or reports of a person who conducts an examination of a physician on behalf of the Board or an investigative committee of the Board pursuant to this section are not privileged communications.

3. Except in extraordinary circumstances, as determined by the Board, the failure of a physician licensed under this chapter to submit to an examination when directed as provided in this section constitutes an admission of the charges against the physician.

(Added to NRS by 1977, 825; A 1985, 2240; 1987, 200; 2003, 3434; 2009, 2966; 2015, 495; 2019, 1727)