Physician loses case to prevent Internet posting of disciplinary action by the Medical Board of California

A physician who surrendered his California medical license pending an accusation sued the Medical Board of California seeking the removal of his disciplinary record from the Board’s Web site. The Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the Medical Board of California and denied the doctor’s appeal in Fulton v. The Medical Board of California, Case No. B215102. The decision was filed on On April 23, 2010.

Business and Professions Code sections 803.1 and 2027 require the Medical Board to post on its Web site information about license revocations, suspensions, probation and other enforcement actions for a period of 10 years. This law became more expansive in 2003 after Dr. Fulton had surrendered his California medical license. Dr. Fulton argued that the revised Internet posting law did not apply to him because he was not a California physician at the time the law was expanded. The Court of Appeal disagreed holding that Sections 803.1 and 2027 require the Medical Board to publish information about enforcement actions initiated while an individual is licensed to practice medicine in California, and to correct those disclosures when new information becomes available.