(a) Any person, firm, corporation, or public officer may submit a written complaint to the Board alleging any person practicing medicine in the State committed unprofessional conduct, specifying the grounds therefor. The Board shall initiate an investigation of the physician when a complaint is received or may act on its own initiative without having received a complaint. The Chair shall designate four members, including one public member, to serve as a committee to hear or investigate and report upon such charges.

(b) The Chair may designate a hearing committee constituting less than a quorum of the Board, to conduct hearings that would otherwise be heard by the Board. A hearing committee shall consist of at least one physician member of the Board and one public member of the Board. No member of the hearing committee shall have been a member of the investigative committee that reviewed the matter at the investigative stage. When the Board is unable to assign one or more members to investigate a complaint or serve on a hearing committee by reason of disqualification, resignation, vacancy, or necessary absence, the Commissioner may, at the request of the Board, appoint ad hoc members to serve on the investigation or the hearing for that matter only. When a hearing is conducted by a hearing committee, the committee shall report its findings and conclusions to the Board, within 60 days of the conclusion of the hearing unless the Board grants an extension. The Board may take additional evidence and may accept, reject, or modify the findings and conclusions of the Committee. Judgment on the findings shall be rendered by the Board. Nothing herein is intended to limit the discretion of the Board to determine whether a matter will proceed to hearing before a hearing committee under this subsection or by a quorum of the Board.

(c) A person or organization shall not be liable in a civil action for damages resulting from the good faith reporting of information to the Board about alleged incompetent, unprofessional, or unlawful conduct of a licensee.

(d) The hearing committee may close portions of hearings to the public if the hearing committee deems it appropriate in order to protect the confidentiality of an individual or for medical and other protected health information pertaining to any identifiable person that is otherwise confidential by State or federal law.

(e) In any proceeding under this section that addresses an applicant's or licensee's alleged sexual misconduct, evidence of the sexual history of the victim of the alleged sexual misconduct shall neither be subject to discovery nor be admitted into evidence. Neither opinion evidence nor evidence of the reputation of the victim's sexual conduct shall be admitted. At the request of the victim, the hearing committee may close portions of hearings to the public if the Board deems it appropriate in order to protect the identity of the victim and the confidentiality of his or her medical records. (Amended 1975, No. 249 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1989, No. 102, § 2; 1991, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 32; 2001, No. 132 (Adj. Sess.), § 9, eff. June 13, 2002; 2011, No. 61, § 2, eff. June 2, 2011.)