Getting a real estate license in Illinois is no easy feat. In addition to licensing courses, exams, and completing training with a sponsoring broker, there is endless ongoing research into market trends, local housing prices, and government regulations. The threat of losing one’s real estate license because of a criminal conviction or for any other reason could mean years of hard work and personal investment gone to waste. If you are facing sanctions to your professional real estate license, make sure you speak with an Illinois professional license defense attorney right away.
Crimes That Can Trigger Real Estate License…
Continue Reading Will My Real Estate License Be Revoked for a Criminal Conviction?

Several American nurses lost their jobs recently after they posted a video on social media describing the things they dislike about their jobs in labor and delivery. Even after the original posting was deleted, the video continued to make its way around the internet, leaving the nurses who originally posted it with no way to take it back or to get their faces out of the news.
This incident highlights the pitfalls of social media use for healthcare professionals, who, while certainly being entitled to their opinions about their job and patients, are at a heightened risk of professional sanctions…
Continue Reading How Can Healthcare Professionals Use Social Media Safely?

Dentists spend many years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to learn the skill of dentistry. When taking into account the bureaucratic labor and fees, office and equipment financing, and staffing costs associated with setting up a practice, dental professionals have often invested enormous amounts of time and money by the time they are actually practicing on patients.
Unfortunately, this investment does not protect dentists from accusations of misconduct. Even when such accusations are entirely unfounded, dentists may face an uphill battle defending themselves from allegations of fraud, abuse, or other inappropriate behaviors. If you know or are worried that…
Continue Reading How Can Illinois Dentists Lose Their Professional Licenses?

Studies estimate that more than 40 percent of doctors will be sued during their careers. As America becomes increasingly litigious, doctors can expect that rate to go up – and so can other healthcare professionals. Nurses, dentists, psychologists, social workers, and any other healthcare worker is at risk of any number of accusations – many of which may be partly false, unfounded, or stem from the accuser’s own mental unwellness.
Even in cases involving obviously false allegations, healthcare practitioners can find themselves defending their cause in front of their regulating board, to say nothing of the impact such allegations can…
Continue Reading How Can A Professional Practitioner Defend Against False Allegations?

Social workers play a crucial role in helping people work through their problems and become effective, well-adjusted members of society. Whether social workers practice in child welfare agencies, addiction services, schools, or private practices, they help vulnerable people and communities deal with real-world problems.
Unfortunately, because of the often public-facing nature of their job, social workers often find themselves targeted by dissatisfied clients, parents, or coworkers. Social workers also carry the burden of performing professionally at a very high standard, protecting vulnerable people even at the expense of their own needs or desires. Sometimes, social workers make mistakes that jeopardize…
Continue Reading Unethical Behaviors Can Lead to License Suspension for Social Workers

Accusations of Medicare fraud or abuse can have a significant impact on a healthcare provider’s ability to practice his or her profession. In addition to limiting the kinds of patients a provider can serve, Medicare provider revocation can be involved without other sanctions that may prevent a doctor from practicing altogether and may involve hefty fines. In one recent example, a Kentucky doctor was fined $720,000 and suspended from federal healthcare programs for fifteen years for submitting false claims to Medicare and Violating the False Claims Act.
If you are facing accusations of Medicare fraud, you need experienced, aggressive legal…
Continue Reading What Should I Do if I Have Been Excluded as a Medicare Provider?

Many different healthcare professionals need hospital admitting privileges. While doctors are perhaps most commonly thought of as using hospitals to practice medicine, other professionals, such as nurses who work in birthing centers next to hospitals, need admitting privileges, too. Not being able to admit patients to a hospital could put patients at risk of serious injury or death, and healthcare workers simply may not be able to do their job without hospital admitting privileges. Unfortunately, loss of hospital privileges can happen for a number of reasons. If you are being threatened with loss of admitting privileges or have already…
Continue Reading Can a Healthcare Professional Get Hospital Admitting Privileges Back?

One of the ways the government is trying to respond to the urgent national opioid epidemic is by sending the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) after practitioners suspected of overprescribing opioids to patients. While there are many doctors who have rightfully been investigated and held responsible for overprescribing opioids, others have gotten caught in the cogs of a machine that is desperately trying to prove that it is doing something – whether that something is actually helpful or not.
Even if you are certain you are not guilty of overprescribing opioids to your patients, it is essential to take an investigation…
Continue Reading DEA Investigations Can Mean Trouble for Your Healthcare License

Standards for doctor-patient relationships are understandably high. Doctors and other healthcare workers are in a position of authority over their patients, and a doctor who is found to have engaged in an inappropriate doctor-patient relationship may be at risk of losing his license. In addition to putting themselves at risk of accusations of medical malpractice, deviating from the standard of care by having even a voluntary relationship with a patient can be an act of negligence by medical professionals. Of course, acts of sexual assault or violence against a patient can similarly result in sanctions against licensure, as well as…
Continue Reading Inappropriate Doctor-Patient Relationships Can Trigger Medical License Revocation

There are many professions in Illinois that require a professional license. There are boards that oversee the different types of licenses, with most of them falling under the umbrella of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). Each board has their own set of rules and regulations that stipulate what is required and what is forbidden for someone to be approved for their license. One of the factors that could make it difficult for an applicant to obtain a license is if the applicant has been convicted of a crime.
What Type of Criminal Record Will Not…
Continue Reading Can I Apply for an Illinois Professional License If I Have a Criminal Record?

Unfortunately, not all investigations of a professional license holder by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) are resolved with the allegations or complaints dismissed. There are cases where the board will find that the license holder violated a regulation and that some level of discipline is warranted.
In many situations, the professional will enter into some type of settlement agreement with the board that oversees their license (i.e., Illinois Medical Board, Illinois Nursing Board, etc.) in order to be able to continue practicing. But what happens if the license holder is accused of violating the settlement agreement?
Continue Reading Violations of a Professional License Settlement Agreement in Illinois

 Making pharmaceutical errors can have a significant detrimental impact on a pharmacy owner or pharmacist. The Illinois Board of Pharmacy and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) can take harsh action, classifying a pharmaceutical error that results in serious injury or death as malpractice. In addition to the civil legal ramifications brought forth by the alleged victim and/or their family, a pharmacist and the facility that employs them can also lose their licenses.
Incorrect Medication to the Patient
If a patient is given the wrong medication, it can cause serious or even fatal side effects. Unfortunately, these mistakes do occur, especially…
Continue Reading Pharmacy Errors that Can Lead to Malpractice Accusations