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Texas Occupations Code - Section 164.053. Unprofessional Or Dishonorable Conduct

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Occupations Code > Texas Occupations Code - Section 164.053. Unprofessional Or Dishonorable Conduct

§ 164.053. UNPROFESSIONAL OR DISHONORABLE CONDUCT.  (a) 
For purposes of Section 164.052(a)(5), unprofessional or 
dishonorable conduct likely to deceive or defraud the public 
includes conduct in which a physician:
		(1)  commits an act that violates any state or federal 
law if the act is connected with the physician's practice of 
medicine;
		(2)  fails to keep complete and accurate records of 
purchases and disposals of:
			(A)  drugs listed in Chapter 481, Health and 
Safety Code;  or              
			(B)  controlled substances scheduled in the 
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (21 
U.S.C. Section 801 et seq.);
		(3)  writes prescriptions for or dispenses to a person 
who:                 
			(A)  is known to be an abuser of narcotic drugs, 
controlled substances, or dangerous drugs;  or
			(B)  the physician should have known was an abuser 
of narcotic drugs, controlled substances, or dangerous drugs;
		(4)  writes false or fictitious prescriptions for:                            
			(A)  dangerous drugs as defined by Chapter 483, 
Health and Safety Code;  or
			(B)  controlled substances scheduled in Chapter 
481, Health and Safety Code, or the Comprehensive Drug Abuse 
Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C. Section 801 et seq.);
		(5)  prescribes or administers a drug or treatment that 
is nontherapeutic in nature or nontherapeutic in the manner the 
drug or treatment is administered or prescribed;
		(6)  prescribes, administers, or dispenses in a manner 
inconsistent with public health and welfare:
			(A)  dangerous drugs as defined by Chapter 483, 
Health and Safety Code;  or
			(B)  controlled substances scheduled in Chapter 
481, Health and Safety Code, or the Comprehensive Drug Abuse 
Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C. Section 801 et seq.);
		(7)  violates Section 311.0025, Health and Safety Code;                       
		(8)  fails to supervise adequately the activities of 
those acting under the supervision of the physician;  or
		(9)  delegates professional medical responsibility or 
acts to a person if the delegating physician knows or has reason to 
know that the person is not qualified by training, experience, or 
licensure to perform the responsibility or acts.
	(b)  A complaint, indictment, or conviction of a violation of 
law is not necessary for the enforcement of Subsection (a)(1).  
Proof of the commission of the act while in the practice of medicine 
or under the guise of the practice of medicine is sufficient for the 
board's action.
	(c)  Subsection (a)(3) does not apply to a person the 
physician is treating for:
		(1)  the person's use of narcotics after the physician 
notifies the board in writing of the name and address of the person 
being treated;  or
		(2)  intractable pain under the Intractable Pain 
Treatment Act (Article 4495c, Revised Statutes).

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.  Amended 
by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, § 14.034(a), eff. Sept. 1, 
2001;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 202, § 32, eff. June 10, 2003.

Last modified: August 10, 2007