Lee v. Board of Registered Nursing

[795]Opinion

RICHMAN, J. Sections 820 and 821 of the Business and Professions Code1 authorize revoking of the license of a health care professional for failure to comply with an order requiring a mental fitness examination. Here, following a hearing before an administrative law judge, the Board of Registered Nursing (Board) revoked the registered nurse license of Ophelia Lee after she refused to submit to such an examination. The trial court denied Lee’s petition for a writ of administrative mandate seeking to overturn the revocation. Lee appeals that denial. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

Lee has been a registered nurse since 2000. In 2007, her employer, Eden Medical Center, began to have doubts about Lee’s mental condition to continue working in the surgical unit. During that year, Lee was examined by five mental health professionals. Two, Drs. Zhalkovsky and Kirz, diagnosed her as suffering from delusions that would impair her ability to function as a nurse. Three others, Drs. Webber, Ho, and Spivey, found no such impairment.

On April 22, 2009, the Board ordered Lee to submit to an examination by a psychologist or psychiatrist selected by the Board no later than May 22. Because Lee did not meet that deadline, the Board in June 2009 filed an “accusation,” the initial document looking to revoke Lee’s license. But the Board let Lee know that the accusation would be withdrawn if she was examined by Dr. Bertagnolli no later than August 14. Lee tried to have the examination conducted by a psychiatrist of her choosing, but the Board insisted on Dr. Bertagnolli. Lee missed the Board’s deadline for examination by Dr. Bertagnolli. Lee did schedule an appointment with Dr. Bertagnolli for August 28, but on August 19 her counsel advised the Board that she would not submit to an examination by Dr. Bertagnolli.

Nevertheless, the Board spent the next three months trying to find a replacement for Dr. Bertagnolli who would be acceptable to Lee. In November 2009, the Board arranged for a replacement examiner, but Lee told the Board she “will not accept any psychiatric or psychological exams whatever.” The Board then proceeded with the accusation. After an evidentiary hearing, an administrative law judge concluded that Lee’s license should be revoked, [796]