Senty v. Board of Osteopathic Examination and Registration

• Decision Date: 09 July 1991
• Citation: 594 A.2d 1068
• Parties: Lynne M. SENTY v. BOARD OF OSTEOPATHIC EXAMINATION AND REGISTRATION.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

Page 1068

594 A.2d 1068

Lynne M. SENTY v. BOARD OF OSTEOPATHIC EXAMINATION AND REGISTRATION.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued June 18, 1991.

Decided July 9, 1991.

Sumner H. Lipman, Kathryn Vezina, Peter Bickerman (orally), Lipman & Katz, Augusta, for plaintiff.

Kenneth W. Lehman (orally), Crombie J.B. Garrett, Thomas Warren, Asst. Attys. Gen., Augusta, for defendant.

Before McKUSICK, C.J., and ROBERTS, WATHEN, GLASSMAN, COLLINS and BRODY, JJ.

BRODY, Justice.

The Board of Osteopathic Examination and Registration (Board) appeals from an order of the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Chandler, J.) compelling the Board to issue a license to practice osteopathic medicine in Maine to Lynne M. Senty, D.O. The Board contends that the court erred in ruling that the Board had no authority to consider evidence of professional incompetence in deciding whether to issue Dr. Senty a license. We agree and vacate the judgment.

Dr. Senty graduated in 1989 from the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa, a school accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). Following graduation, she successfully completed a one-year, AOA-approved internship program at Waterville Osteopathic Hospital and received her diplomate certificate from the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners after passing the national licensing examination.

In the process of considering her application for permanent licensure in June of 1990, the Board discovered that Dr. Senty had earned questionable competence ratings during her internship. As a result, the Board expressed reservations regarding her licensure and decided to withhold approval of a permanent license pending an investigation. The Board did, however, grant her a temporary license to enable her to practice in a two-year family practice residency program at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

In January of 1991, after an investigation was completed and less than a week before the meeting at which the Board was to reach a preliminary decision on whether to issue her a full license, Dr. Senty filed a complaint in the Superior Court pursuant to 5 M.R.S.A. §§ 11001-11008 (1989) and M.R.Civ.P. 80C. She contended, among other things, that the Board exceeded its statutory authority in refusing for nearly six months to take official action on her application for permanent licensure. Following the Board's preliminary denial of her permanent license application on January 17, 1991, Dr. Senty amended her complaint to seek to enjoin the Board from further "interfering with a license being granted" her.

The court heard Dr. Senty's motion for injunctive relief on February 22, 1991. She argued that the language of 32 M.R.S.A. § 2572 (1988) required the Board to issue an unconditional license to her. The Board, on the other hand, argued that the language of 32 M.R.S.A. § 2591-A (1988 & Supp.1990) allowed it to "refuse to issue" an initial license on any of several grounds listed in that section, including professional incompetence. In its decision and order dated March 7, 1991, the court agreed with Dr. Senty that section 2572 mandated the issuance of a license upon successful completion of the Board-prescribed examination and that section 2591-A was inapplicable to initial license approvals. The court permanently enjoined the Board from failing to issue a license to Dr. Senty and directed the Board to issue her a license forthwith.

The Board filed a timely notice of appeal along with a motion for a stay pending appeal. After the Superior Court denied the Board's motion, the Board sought a stay pending appeal from this court. We granted the stay and ordered an expedited briefing schedule.

The Board argues that the court erred as a matter of law in ruling that the Board had no discretion to consider evidence of professional incompetence in deciding whether to issue Dr. Senty a permanent medical license. The Board contends that the court misconstrued the preliminary requirements contained in 32 M.R.S.A. §§ 2571 (Supp.1990) and 2572 to be the sole requirements for licensure. The Board also submits that its longstanding interpretation of the relevant statutes is reasonable and consistent with the purpose of the osteopathic physician licensure law and that the court's order, by contrast, creates irreconcilable inconsistencies among the statutes applicable to licensure decisions by the Board. We agree.

In order to engage in the practice of osteopathic medicine in Maine, a person must apply to the Board for a certificate of licensure. 32 M.R.S.A. § 2571. The applicant is required to present to the Board a diploma granted by an osteopathic college or university accredited by the AOA along with evidence of having completed an internship of at least twelve months in a hospital approved by the AOA. Id. In addition, the applicant must pass an examination "in such subjects as the board may deem necessary, including osteopathic theories and methods, to determine the competency of the candidate to practice osteopathic medicine and surgery in the State." Id. § 2572. It is not disputed that Dr. Senty met all of the preliminary requirements of sections 2571 and 2572.

Section 2572 further provides:

If the examination is passed in a manner satisfactory to the board, the board shall issue to the applicant a certificate granting him the right to practice osteopathic medicine in this State.

Id. (emphasis added). At the same time, section 2591-A provides in pertinent part:

The following shall be grounds for an action to refuse to issue, modify, suspend, revoke or refuse to renew the license of a person licensed under this chapter:

....

E. Incompetence in the practice for which he is licensed. A licensee shall be deemed incompetent in the practice if the licensee has:

(1) Engaged in conduct which evidences a lack of ability or fitness to discharge the duty owed by the licensee to a client or patient or the general public; or

(2) Engaged in conduct which evidences a lack of knowledge, or inability to apply principles or skills to carry out the practice for which he is licensed.

Id. § 2591-A(2)(E) (emphasis added).

The question at issue is whether these statutes give the Board the authority to consider allegations of an applicant's professional incompetence when deciding whether to issue a permanent license to practice osteopathic medicine in Maine. The trial court ruled that the Board was not so empowered: "[S]trange as it may seem, the applicable statutes give the Board absolutely no discretion with regard to the issuance of a license to practice osteopathic medicine once an applicant has met certain preliminary requirements." The court found section 2572 "mandatory in its language" and section 2591-A applicable "only to the Board's dealing with licensees and not to an initial licensing."

The court erred in its restrictive interpretation of section 2572. There is no question that the Legislature's use of the word "shall" provides some support for the court's conclusion since, as Dr. Senty points out, the word "shall" generally signals a mandatory intent. "The intention of the legislature, however, should be controlling and no formalistic rule of grammar or word form should stand in the way of carrying out the legislative intent." 1A N. Singer, Sutherland Statutory Construction § 25.03, at 441-42 (4th ed. 1985); accord Anderson v. Commissioner of Dep't of Human Servs., 489 A.2d 1094, 1097-98 (Me.1985). In ruling as it did, the court did not recognize that the Legislature in several other enactments has authorized the Board to consider more than the preliminary requirements set forth in sections 2571 and 2572.

The court's interpretation conflicts, for example, with 5 M.R.S.A. §§ 5301-5303 (Supp.1990). Section 5301 permits a licensing agency to take into consideration criminal history record information relating to certain convictions when determining eligibility for the granting of any occupational license. Each of these categories of convictions pertains to applicants for osteopathic medical licensure, and section 5301(2)(E) expressly authorizes the Board to consider in connection with a license application criminal history record information pertaining to "[c]onvictions ... which involve sexual misconduct by an applicant or licensee of ... the Board of Osteopathic Examination and Registration." 5 M.R.S.A. § 5301(2)(E) (emphasis added). Pursuant to section 5302, if the Board determines that the convicted "applicant, licensee, registrant or permit holder ... has not been sufficiently rehabilitated to warrant the public trust," the Board may refuse to grant a license. Id. § 5302(1) (emphasis added). Section 5303 provides that "[t]here is no time limitation for consideration of a registrant's, an applicant's or licensee's conduct which gave rise to the criminal conviction if that conduct is otherwise a ground for disciplinary action." Id. § 5303(2)(C) (emphasis added).

The court's reading of section 2572 is also at odds with 10 M.R.S.A. § 8003 (Supp.1990). This provision authorizes the Board to "[i]mpose conditions of probation upon an applicant " for any "violation of applicable laws, rules or conditions of licensure or registration." 10 M.R.S.A. § 8003(5)(A-1)(4) (emphasis added). Furthermore, "[p]robation may include such conditions as ... mandatory professional or occupational supervision of the applicant." Id. (emphasis added). It would be illogical for the Legislature to have enabled the Board to impose mandatory professional or occupational supervision of an applicant for osteopathic medical licensure if the Legislature had intended the Board to have, in the court's words, "absolutely no discretion" in the first instance to exercise judgment and evaluate the competence of that applicant.

Section 8003 also enables the Board to "execute a consent agreement which resolves a complaint or investigation without further proceedings" and provides...