THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH’S BOARD FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL CONDUCT PROPERLY REVOKED PETITIONER-RADIATION-ONCOLOGIST’S LICENSE TO PRACTICE MEDICINE; THE BOARD’S EXPERT OPINED THAT PETITIONER’S USE OF HIGHER “CURATIVE” RADIATION DOSES WHEN LOWER “PALLIATIVE” DOSES WERE APPROPRIATE FELL SHORT OF THE RELEVANT STANDARD OF CARE (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Troutman, determined the Department of Health’s Board for Professional Medical Conduct properly revoked petitioner’s license to practice medicine. Petitioner, a radiation oncologist, was found to have deviated from the generally accepted standard of care by administering higher “curative” doses of radiation treatment when lower “palliative” doses were appropriate. The inquiry came down to a battle of experts about what the appropriate standard of care is. The petitioner argued that the Board’s expert improperly relied solely on clinical practice guidelines for that determination:

Petitioner’s contention that the Board’s expert relied solely on clinical practice guidelines overvalues the import of the following testimony:

Counsel: “[W]hat do you mean when you say standard of care?

Expert: “We have accepted guidelines that are published by multiple societies, they include our board, [the] American College of Radiology or [the] American Board of Radiology, [and] national comprehensive cancer networks and these are fairly descriptive, prescriptive guidelines for what a physician should do in the management of cases in very specific areas. When you deviate from those, it is considered to fall short of a standard.”

This answer by the Board’s expert, and others like it, should not be viewed in isolation. The Board’s expert was well-credentialed and had over 30 years of practice in the field of radiation oncology. Rather than merely citing the clinical practice guidelines as being the standard of care, he established the standard of care as he understood it based on his years of seeing patients. For each of the seven patients at issue, the Board’s expert identified the relevant medical and scientific principles underlying the standard of care and provided detailed explanations about why that standard best served patients and why deviating from it risked causing significant harm to those patients. Thus, respondent’s expert did not rely exclusively on clinical practice guidelines. Instead, as the Appellate Division concluded, he used those guidelines as “one link in the chain” of his evaluation process … . Matter of Won Yi v New York State Bd. of Professional Med. Conduct, 2025 NY Slip Op 03103, CtApp 5-22-25