Bockman v. Arkansas State Medical Bd., 5-1573

• Decision Date: 02 June 1958
• Docket Number: No. 5-1573,5-1573
• Citation: 229 Ark. 143,313 S.W.2d 826
• Parties: James BOCKMAN, Appellant, v. ARKANSAS STATE MEDICAL BOARD, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 826

313 S.W.2d 826

229 Ark. 143

James BOCKMAN, Appellant, v. ARKANSAS STATE MEDICAL BOARD, Appellee.

No. 5-1573.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

June 2, 1958.

Rehearing Denied July 1, 1958.

John C. Sheffield and George K. Cracraft, Jr., Helena, Herrn Northcutt, Salem, for appellant.

Bailey, Warren & Bullion, Little Rock, for appellee.

SMITH, Justice.

This is a proceeding instituted before the State Medical Board for the revocation of the appellant's license to practice medicine. The complaint alleges two statutory grounds for revocation: First, that the license was obtained by fraud, and, secondly, that Dr. Bockman has been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude. Ark.Stats.1947 (1957 Replacement), § 72-613. The board, after a hearing at which Dr. Bockman appeared by counsel but not in person, found that both charges were sustained by the evidence and entered an order revoking the license. The record was reviewed on certiorari by the Pulaski circuit court, which affirmed the board's decision.

The appellant contends that the board's findings of fact are not sustained by any substantial competent evidence. Upon this point it is our rule in proceedings like this one that the board's action will not be set aside on certiorari unless there is an entire absence of substantial evidence to sustain the findings, in which case the board's action is deemed to be arbitrary. Hall v. Bledsoe, 126 Ark. 125, 189 S.W. 1041; Eclectic State Med. Bd. v. Beatty, 203 Ark. 294, 156 S.W.2d 246.

For a reason to be explained later we discuss only the charge that the license was obtained by fraud. Dr. Bockman received his license from the Arkansas Eclectic Medical Board in 1922, although he does not appear to have practiced medicine in Arkansas until about 1937. In applying for the license Dr. Bockman stated on oath that he had attended lectures at the Kansas City College of Medicine and Surgery for four years, beginning in 1917, and that he had been granted a diploma by that institution on May 5, 1922.

The records of the Kansas City school were not available, but counsel for the board introduced the affidavits of six physicians who attended the college and graduated in the class of May, 1922. All six state that Dr. Bockman did not attend the school. It was also shown by affidavit that Dr. Bockman did not appear in the class graduation picture, nor was his name listed in the announcement of the commencement exercises. Counsel also introduced certified copies of judicial opinions rendered in Connecticut, in a proceeding which resulted in the revocation of Dr. Bockman's license to practice there, in 1928. In detailed findings of fact the trial court found that Dr. Bockman was not a bona fide graduate of the Kansas City school, having merely paid $30 for the privilege of taking an examination (which no one failed to pass if a suitable fee was paid) and having on that basis been awarded an 'honorary' degree. The trial court's decision was affirmed on appeal. Aronson v. State Dept. of Health, 108 Conn. 84, 142 A. 476.

This proof is sufficient to sustain the finding that the license was obtained by means of false representations. Although the evidence consists of affidavits and certified copies of court decisions, it was nevertheless competent. This is not a criminal prosecution, in which the accused is entitled to be confronted by the witnesses against him. It is an administrative proceeding, civil in nature, as to which the governing statute provides: 'The Board shall not be bound by strict or technical rules of evidence, but shall consider all evidence fully and fairly, provided, however, that all oral testimony considered by the Board must be under oath.' Ark.Stats. § 72-614. A provision of this kind is manifestly appropriate when the board members are not trained in the law, for the tribunal could not proceed at all if it were required to observe technical rules of evidence. Meffert v. State Board of Medical Registration and Examination, 66 Kan. 710, 72 P. 247, 1 L.R.A.,N.S., 811, affirmed Meffert v. Packer, 195 U.S. 625, 25 S.Ct. 790, 49 L.Ed. 350. Affidavits are frequently used in quasi-judicial proceedings, as in hearings before the workmen's compensation commission; there is no constitutional objection to this method of proof in a civil proceeding. Here the evidence is wholly uncontradicted, as Dr. Bockman did not choose to testify or to offer proof tending to refute the charges against him. We have no doubt that the evidence adduced was admissible in a hearing of this kind and was ample to sustain the findings.

Next, it is contended that the board is now without power to revoke any license issued before the passage of Act 198 of 1957. Appellant relies on this proviso in the 1957 statute: 'Nothing in this Act * * * shall be construed to invalidate or affect the license of any person holding a valid unrevoked or unsuspended license to...