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On May 20, 2019, Governor Mike DeWine signed Executive Order 2019-16D. The Governor created a working group to determine if the State Medical Board of Ohio thoroughly and properly investigated and responded to allegations of sexual abuse by Richard Strauss. The working group, however, ran into a brick wall when it tried to obtain information from the Medical Board.

For twenty or more years, the Medical Board has blocked anyone except for law enforcement officials and certain state agencies from obtaining their investigative records. This has been to the detriment of anyone who has tried to defend themselves before the Medical Board. According to the Columbus Dispatch, the confidentiality rules have been at the center of a months-long clash with The Ohio State University during their investigation.

On May 23, 2019, the Medical Board stated it would release investigative records if the patient signed a waiver. This is a sudden change in policy at the Medical Board. This law firm has offered waivers to the Medical Board in order to gain access to investigative reports, and has always been told no. In fact, during an administrative hearing in 2013, the Medical Board’s hearing examiner stated there was no way to determine who can waive the privilege, so a waiver would not allow access to investigative reports. Now that the Medical Board is under scrutiny by the Governor’s Office and battling with Ohio State, apparently it is okay to get waivers in order to release investigative records.

One must wonder what the Medical Board is hiding in its investigative reports. One must also wonder how many physicians would have had a fair hearing if they, too, could have had this same access to investigative reports.

If you have any questions about the Medical Board, or any license which they issue, you should consider contacting an Ohio medical license defense attorney at Graff & McGovern. John Izzo can be reached at 614-228-5800, extension 5, or by emailing johnizzo@grafflaw.com.