California Code of Regulations › Title 8 - Industrial Relations › Division 1 - Department of Industrial Relations › Chapter 1 - Division of Workers' Compensation - Qualified Medical Evaluator Regulations › Article 15 - Fraudulent or Misleading Advertising › Section 153 - False or Misleading Advertising Copy Prohibited

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
No physician subject to these regulations, or any person
					 acting on his or her behalf or for his or her benefit, shall use, cause to be
					 used, or allow to be used:
(a) Any
				  advertising copy which, through endorsements, testimonials or other
				  representations, makes or implies any guarantee, warranty, or prediction that
				  is intended, or is likely, to create a false or unjustified expectation of
				  favorable results concerning the outcome of the employment of the
				  physician.
(b) Any advertising copy
				  which by use of a firm name, trade name, fictitious business name, or other
				  professional designation states or implies a relationship between any physician
				  in private practice and any governmental agency or entity, with the exception
				  that, as provided in section
				  154 below, a physician currently or
				  previously certified by the Administrative Director as a Qualified Medical
				  Evaluator may state this fact in advertising copy, a curriculum vitae or in
				  descriptive text, only for the period of time that is true and
				  correct.
(c) Any advertising copy
				  which states or implies that a medical-legal report written by any physician,
				  or group or association of physicians enjoys any special degree of credibility
				  by any workers' compensation judge or judges.
(d) Any advertising copy which advises or
				  recommends the securing of any medical-legal examination, or which suggests
				  that a tactical advantage may be secured by obtaining any medical-legal
				  evaluation.
(e) Any advertising
				  copy which contains the phrase "Qualified Medical Evaluator" or the designation
				  "QME" unless such phrase is used to identify individual physicians who are
				  currently certified as QMEs by the Administrative Director in accordance with
				  Labor Code section
				  139.2.
(f) Any advertising copy which contains a
				  firm name, trade name, or fictitious business name which contains the phrases
				  "Qualified Medical Evaluator," "Qualified Medical Examiner", "Agreed Medical
				  Evaluator", "Agreed Medical Examiner", "Independent Medical Examiner",
				  "Independent Medical Evaluator" or the designations "QME", "AME" or
				  "IME."
(g) Any advertising copy
				  which states or implies that any physician has an ongoing appointment, title or
				  professional status as an "Agreed Medical Examiner," "Agreed Medical
				  Evaluator", "Independent Medical Examiner," "AME," or "IME."
(h) Any advertising copy which states or
				  implies that the physician is currently an "Agreed Medical Examiner" or
				  "Independent Medical Examiner" in the California Workers' Compensation
				  system.
1. New
					 section filed 3-31-93; operative 4-30-93 (Register 93, No. 14).
2.
					 Amendment of subsections (b), (e) and (f), new subsection (h) and amendment of
					 NOTE filed 1-13-2009; operative 2-17-2009 (Register 2009, No.
					 3).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
						133,
						139.4,
						139.45 and
						5307.3, Labor
						Code. Reference: Sections
						28,
						139.2,
						139.4 and
						139.45, Labor
						Code.