CLEAR

UK: consultation on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard

The Professional Standards Authority in the UK has opened a consultation on a new Standard on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion to be added to its Standards for Accredited Registers (registers of people in health and/or social care roles that are not subject to statutory regulation). The proposed standard reads

"The organisation demonstrates its commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and ensures that its processes are fair and free from unfair discrimination.
a) The register’s regulatory functions are underpinned by fairness and equity of access to registrants and service users.
b) The register understands the diversity of its registrants, service users and complainants and has an awareness of issues that may impact those with protected characteristics.
c) The register works to promote and enhance EDI by seeking to understand and act on issues affecting the roles registered and service users."

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UK: report urges regulation of care staff in children's homes

The final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recommends "introducing the regulation of care staff working in children’s homes in England and young offender institutions and secure training centres in England and Wales." The report also recommends that all professionals should be legally mandated to report child sexual abuse and face criminal sanctions for failure to do so. Mandated reporters would include police officers, social workers, family court advisers, foster carers, children’s home staff, teachers and healthcare staff working with children.

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Bar associations address mis/disinformation

The New York City Bar Association and the New York County Lawyers Association have issued cautions to their members against dissemination of misinformation or disinformation: Attorneys should not “make claims of wrongdoing against officers of the court for which they have no factual basis, or which they know to be incorrect.” Nor should attorneys, especially in “a highly charged environment of public interest,” make comments about “the judicial processes or judicial officers” that “they know to be demonstrably misleading or palpably false.”
This article explores "the nuances in legal ethics rules regarding statements made during representation of a client and those made by lawyers not involved in the controversy," concluding that "the New York bar associations were right to rebuke flagrant falsehoods that target the very rule of law."

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Joint statement on laws for medication access

The American Medical Association, American Pharmacists Association, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and the National Community Pharmacist Association have issued a joint statement raising concern about "state laws that limit patients’ access to medically necessary medications and impede physicians and pharmacists from using their professional judgment." The statement notes confusion among physicians, pharmacists, and other health care professionals about how broadly state laws will be interpreted after Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, specifically about prescribing off-label usage of medications that have the potential to induce abortion. The statement calls on policymakers and state medical and pharmacy boards to issue guidance or regulations to clarify the legal and licensing obligations around these prescription medications to ensure that continuity of care is not disrupted.

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Victoria, Australia introduces duty of candour

Legislation in Victoria, Australia introduces a duty of candour, "a legal obligation to ensure that consumers of healthcare and their families are apologised to, and communicated with, openly and honestly when things have gone wrong in their care." An existing Australian Open Disclosure Framework is still in effect with the duty of candour now added.

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South Carolina: medical rights of conscience law

A bill awaiting the governor's signature in South Carolina would allow licensed healthcare professionals to deny services based on their own "religious, moral or ethical beliefs or principles." The bill, known as the Medical Ethics and Diversity Act, is a medical rights of conscience law and would protect doctors, nurses, and medical students from being fired or disciplined for opting out of performing certain services. The law would not apply to emergency medical treatment or allow refusal on the basis of race.

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India: National Medical Commission institutes Physician's Pledge

The National Medical Commission, the regulatory body fr medical professionals in India, has drafted regulations for the professional conduct on doctors that include the Physician's Pledge. A prior recommendation to replace the Hippocratic Oath with the Charak Shapath, a Sanskrit oath, was met with opposition. The Physician's Pledge is part of the World Medical Association's Declaration of Geneve adopted in 1948 and revised most recently in 2017.

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FSMB updates medical misinformation policy

The Federation of State Medical Boards has updated its "Professional Expectations Regarding Medical Misinformation and Disinformation." In July 2021, FSMB released a statement reminding physicians of the high degree of public trust placed on them and of their ethical and professional responsibility to share factual and scientifically-grounded information - and that spreading COVID vaccine misinformation could result in disciplinary action. The updated policy includes five recommendations for state medical boards:

1. "State medical boards are encouraged to adopt a policy that clarifies board expectations
   regarding the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation by licensees.
   
2. State medical boards must retain their legislated authority to regulate the professional
   conduct of licensees in order to effectively protect the public.
   
3. When adjudicating cases regarding misinformation and disinformation, state medical
   boards are encouraged to consider the full array of authorized grounds for disciplinary
   action in their Medical Practice Acts.
   
4. When appropriate, state medical boards should consider whether there are options that do
   not involve disciplinary action that could help a licensee understand the ethical basis of
   their duty to convey accurate information to patients and the public and change or
   remediate their behavior appropriately.
   
5. State medical boards should not be dissuaded from carrying out their duty to protect the
   public by concerns about potential challenges to disciplinary decisions when these
   decisions are based on sound regulatory considerations for public protection."

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Louisiana: conversion therapy ban deferred

A Louisiana bill that would have prohibited licensed healthcare professionals from performing conversion therapy for minors has been deferred. Opponents of the bill claimed that it violates First Amendment rights of professionals' free speech. Others argued that the elements of the bill are already covered under the medical code of ethics in do no harm.

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New Jersey proposes anti-discrimination rules

Rules proposed for the Division of Consumer Affairs "will clarify and firmly establish that discriminatory conduct, bias-based harassment, and retaliation against individuals who exercise their rights under anti-discrimination laws constitute professional or occupational misconduct that may be grounds for disciplining a professional licensee, including by suspending or revoking a professional license or certificate."  The rules would apply to all 51 professions and occupations within the Division, supplementing the anti-discrimination regulations already in place at three of the boards (the Board of Social Work Examiners, the Alcohol and Drug Counselor Committee, and the Board of Psychological Examiners).

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