Texas Administrative Code › Title 22 - EXAMINING BOARDS › Part 5 - STATE BOARD OF DENTAL EXAMINERS › Chapter 107 - DENTAL BOARD PROCEDURES › Subchapter B - COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS › Section 107.110 - Baseless or Unfounded Complaints

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a)
				  Statutory Authorization and Purpose. Pursuant to Texas Occupations Code §
										263.0074,
				  the Board shall dismiss baseless or unfounded complaints through the procedures
				  described in subsections (c) and (d) of this section. If the Board determines
				  that the complaint is not baseless or unfounded, the complaint shall be
				  resolved through the procedures outlined in §
										107.200
				  of this title (relating to Disposition of a Filed Complaint).
(b) Definitions. The definitions provided in
				  §
										107.100 of
				  this title (relating to Definitions) shall apply to this section.
(c) Baseless or Unfounded Complaints. Within
				  the first one-hundred-eighty days after the Board commences official
				  investigation of a complaint, Board staff shall identify the classification of
				  allegations in the complaint pursuant to §
										107.104
				  of this title (relating to Official Investigation of a Complaint) and determine
				  if the complaint is baseless or unfounded by applying the following criteria:
(1) Failure to Specify a Violation of the
				  Standard of Care. If the complaint submitted to the Board does not specify a
				  procedure or service provided by the Respondent that may fall below the
				  standard of care, Board staff shall dismiss the complaint.
(2) Failure to Describe a Sanitation
				  Violation. If the complaint submitted to the Board does not describe conditions
				  in the Respondent's practice that may violate laws or Board rules related to
				  the sanitation of a dental office, Board staff shall dismiss the
				  complaint.
(3) Failure to Describe
				  Dishonorable Conduct. If the complaint submitted to the Board does not describe
				  conduct by the Respondent which may be considered dishonorable under laws or
				  Board rules, Board staff shall dismiss the complaint.
(4) Failure to Identify an Administrative
				  Violation. If the complaint submitted to the Board does not identify a
				  violation of the administrative requirements of the laws and Board rules
				  related to licensure as a dentist or dental hygienist or registration as a
				  dental assistant, Board staff shall dismiss the complaint.
(5) Failure to Describe a Business Promotion
				  Violation. If the complaint submitted to the Board does not describe business
				  promotion activities by the Respondent that may represent a violation of the
				  laws and Board rules regarding business promotion, Board staff shall dismiss
				  the complaint.
(6) Failure to
				  Establish Practice of Dentistry without a License. If the complaint submitted
				  to the Board does not provide sufficient detail to establish that the
				  Respondent may have practiced dentistry or dental hygiene without a license, or
				  that Respondent may have practiced as a dental assistant or dental laboratory
				  without a registration, Board staff shall dismiss the complaint.
(7) Failure to Identify a Person or Entity
				  Subject to Board Jurisdiction. If the complaint submitted to the Board does not
				  provide sufficient information to identify a Respondent who is a person or
				  entity subject to the jurisdiction of the Board, or if the complaint alleges
				  standard of care, sanitation, dishonorable conduct, administrative, or business
				  promotion allegations against a deceased or unlicensed/unregistered Respondent,
				  Board staff shall dismiss the complaint. Nothing in this section shall be
				  construed to prohibit the Board from utilizing the complaint and associated
				  information to pursue action against an unlicensed person for the practice of
				  dentistry or dental hygiene without a license, or from providing the complaint
				  and associated information to the appropriate state agency with jurisdiction
				  over the person identified in the complaint.