Sec. 20-192. Disciplinary action; grounds; appeals.

The board may take any action set forth in section 19a-17, if the license holder: Has been convicted of a felony; has been found by the board to have employed fraud or deceit in obtaining his license or in the course of any professional activity, to have violated any provision of this chapter or any regulation adopted hereunder or to have acted negligently, incompetently or wrongfully in the conduct of his profession; practiced in an area of psychology for which he is not qualified; is suffering from physical or mental illness, emotional disorder or loss of motor skill, including but not limited to, deterioration through the aging process or is suffering from the abuse or excessive use of drugs, including alcohol, narcotics or chemicals. The Commissioner of Public Health may order a license holder to submit to a reasonable physical or mental examination if his physical or mental capacity to practice safely is the subject of an investigation. Said commissioner may petition the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford to enforce such order or any action taken pursuant to section 19a-17. Notice of any contemplated action under said section, of the cause therefor and the date of hearing thereon shall be given and an opportunity for hearing afforded as provided in the regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Public Health. The Attorney General shall, upon request, furnish legal assistance to the board. Any person aggrieved by any action of the board may appeal therefrom as provided in section 4-183, except such appeal shall be made returnable to the judicial district where he resides. Such appeal shall have precedence over nonprivileged cases in respect to order of trial.

(1949 Rev., S. 4637; 1957, P.A. 269, S. 6; 1969, P.A. 597, S. 9; 1971, P.A. 870, S. 62; P.A. 76-436, S. 426, 681; P.A. 77-603, S. 72, 125; 77-614, S. 429, 610; P.A. 78-280, S. 43, 44, 127; P.A. 80-484, S. 73, 176; P.A. 88-230, S. 1, 12; P.A. 90-98, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-142, S. 4, 7, 8; 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-220, S. 4–6; 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 96-47, S. 9.)

History: 1969 act substituted “license” for “certificate”, raised maximum suspension period from one to three years and allowed suspension or revocation of license of psychologist for practice in an area of psychology for which he is not qualified; 1971 act replaced superior court with court of common pleas, effective September 1, 1971, except that courts with cases pending retain jurisdiction unless pending matters deemed transferable; P.A. 76-436 replaced court of common pleas with superior court and added reference to judicial districts, effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 77-603 replaced previous appeal provisions with statement that appeals shall be in accordance with Sec. 4-183, retaining provision granting appeals precedence in order of trial and specifying venue in county of residence; P.A. 77-614 allowed suspension or revocation of license for violation of chapter or related regulations, replaced detailed provisions re hearing procedure with reference to hearing procedure in regulations adopted by health services commissioner and deleted provisions concerning venue and precedence in order of trial for appeals, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 78-280 restored venue and precedence in order of trial provisions; P.A. 80-484 expanded disciplinary actions to include those in Sec. 19-4s, revised grounds to include fraud or deceit “in the course of any professional activity” and acting “incompetently”, added grounds re physical or mental illness, emotional disorder etc. and drug or alcohol abuse etc., added provisions re mental or physical examination and re petitions to court for enforcement of orders or actions and deleted provision re procedure for reinstatement of license following three-year revocation; P.A. 88-230 replaced “judicial district of Hartford-New Britain” with “judicial district of Hartford”, effective September 1, 1991; P.A. 90-98 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1991, to September 1, 1993; P.A. 93-142 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1993, to September 1, 1996, effective June 14, 1993; P.A. 93-381 replaced commissioner of health services with commissioner of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-220 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1996, to September 1, 1998, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 96-47 made no substantive change (Revisor's note: The word “or” was added editorially by the Revisors after “hereunder” in the phrase “... or any regulation adopted hereunder or to have acted negligently, ...”).