In this episode, we do a deeper dive into the significance of US DOJ’s Letter of Finding regarding its investigation of a nurse’s complaint regarding the Indiana Board of Nursing IN BON and its professional assistance/rehabilitation program “ISNAP” violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The violation specifically pertained to IN BON’s and ISNAP’s refusal to allow participation in the program – necessary for removal of licensure restrictions – of any nurse who had a diagnosis of an opioid use disorder and who was currently on a medication-assisted treatment for it.
As significant as the findings and proposed charges are, the fact of DOJ’s intent to levy not only civil (and perhaps criminal?) penalties and its decision to advocate on behalf of all of the nurses harmed by this policy in the form of holding them liable for compensatory damages (lost income as well as pain and suffering), is extraordinary.
But even beyond this opioid use disorder ADA-based case and other ADA cases regarding MAT (medication-assisted treatment) and ADA cases regarding impermissible questions on licensure, I suspect there are larger implications to the aggregate DOJ enforcement activity. Considering also the FTC v NC Dental Board case, what’s going on here is a multi-federal agency challenge to state agencies who have been acting with impunity in imperially ruling their licensing agencies in overt defiance of federal laws and the established rights of others.
You can view the article here; it’s essentially a transcript of this podcast.
Your comments and sharing are most welcome.
IN Board of Nursing and ISNAP Studying 'The Big Book;' Really Struggling with Step 1