A. The examining committee assigned to examine a health care provider pursuant to referral by the board as provided in Section 61-7-4 NMSA 1978 shall conduct an examination of the health care provider for the purpose of determining the health care provider's fitness to practice with reasonable skill or safety to patients, either on a restricted or unrestricted basis, and shall report its findings and recommendations to the board. The findings and recommendations shall be based on findings by the examining committee that the health care provider examined possesses one or more of the impairments set forth in Section 61-7-3 NMSA 1978 and such impairment does, in fact, affect the ability of the health care provider to skillfully or safely practice. The examining committee shall order the health care provider to appear before it for examination and give the health care provider ten days' notice of time and place of the examination, together with a statement of the cause for examination. Notice shall be served upon the health care provider either personally or by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested.

B. If an examining committee, in its discretion, deems a mental or physical examination of the health care provider necessary to its determination of the fitness of the health care provider to practice, the committee shall order the health care provider to submit to such examination. Any person licensed, registered or certified to practice in this state shall, by so practicing or by making or filing of registration to practice in this state, be deemed to have:

(1) given consent to submit to mental or physical examination when so directed by an examining committee; and

(2) waived all objections to the admissibility of an examining committee's report to the board on the grounds of privileged communication.

C. Any health care provider ordered to an examination before an examining committee pursuant to the provisions of Subsection A of this section may present the results of an independent mental or physical examination to the committee.

D. Any health care provider who submits to a diagnostic mental or physical examination as ordered by an examining committee shall have a right to designate another health care provider to be present at the examination and make an independent report to the board.

E. Failure of a health care provider to comply with an examining committee order made pursuant to provisions of Subsection B of this section to appear before it for examination by the committee or to submit to mental or physical examination under this section shall be reported by the committee to the board and, unless due to circumstances beyond the control of the health care provider, shall be grounds for the immediate and summary suspension by the board of the health care provider's license, registration or certification to practice in this state until the further order of the board.

History: 1953 Comp., § 67-42-5, enacted by Laws 1976, ch. 3, § 5; recompiled as 1953 Comp., § 67-8A-5; 1993, ch. 326, § 2; 1995, ch. 96, § 5.

The 1995 amendment, effective June 16, 1995, substituted "health care provider" for "physician" throughout the section; deleted "medicine" following "practice" throughout the section; inserted "registered or certified" and "registration or certification" in the second sentence of Subsection B and near the end of Subsection E, respectively; and made stylistic changes throughout the section.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, in Subsection A, substituted "examination" for "hearing" in two places in the third sentence and made stylistic changes throughout; in Subsection B, deleted "annual" before "registration" in the introductory language of the second sentence; designated the former last sentence of Subsection B as Subsection C and rewrote the sentence; redesignated former Subsections C and D as Subsections D and E; and substituted "examination by the committee" for "hearing" in Subsection E.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 73 C.J.S. Public Administrative Law and Procedure § 60.