Comments from Chamblee, Ryan, Kershaw & Anderson, P.C., health care appellate attorney David M. Walsh IV were recently included in a Law360.com article discussing a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that state professional licensing boards must be supervised by state governments, to avoid antitrust conflicts. Below is an excerpt of Mr. Walsh’s quotes, on the ramifications of the decision in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission:
“Today’s opinion has dramatic implications for various medical, dental or other professional boards operated under state law. Typically, such boards are composed, at least in part, by the professionals regulated, i.e. state medical boards have doctors as members, dental boards have dentists, etc. That membership status, … in the past, made sense because the professional members could advise the board on how the professional practice works. Under the Supreme Court’s opinion, professional board regulation will always be subject to antitrust scrutiny unless the board is operating under a specific law enacted by a state legislature. To avoid such scrutiny, state legislatures will either have to change the makeup of the professional boards or continually provide legislation that governs the operation of the board. While the majority may be correct on the issue of antitrust law, the dissent probably has the better view on the difficult practicalities that will arise following the opinion.”
A full, pay-walled version of the Law60 story is available here.
Attorney: David M. Walsh, IV
