2009 California Business and Professions Code - Section 2420-2433 :: Article 19. Renewal Of Licenses

2420.  The provisions of this article apply to, determine the
expiration of, and govern the renewal of, each of the following
certificates, licenses, registrations, and permits issued by or under
the Medical Board of California: physician's and surgeon's
certificates, certificates to practice podiatric medicine, physical
therapy licenses and approvals, registrations of research
psychoanalysts, registrations of dispensing opticians, registrations
of nonresident contact lens sellers, registrations of spectacle lens
dispensers, registrations of contact lens dispensers, certificates to
practice midwifery, and fictitious-name permits.

2421.  As used in this article, the terms:
   (a) "License" includes "certificate," "permit," and "registration."

   (b) "Licensee" includes the holder of a license.
   (c) "Licensing authority" means the appropriate division or
examining committee, under the board, which has jurisdiction over a
particular licensee.

2422.  All licenses expire and become invalid at 12 midnight on the
last day of February of each even-numbered year if not renewed.
   To renew an unexpired license, a licensee shall, on or before the
date it would otherwise expire, apply for renewal on a form
prescribed by the licensing authority and pay the prescribed renewal
fee.

2423.  (a) Notwithstanding Section 2422:
   (1) All physician and surgeon's certificates, certificates to
practice podiatric medicine, registrations of spectacle lens
dispensers and contact lens dispensers, and certificates to practice
midwifery shall expire at 12 midnight on the last day of the birth
month of the licensee during the second year of a two-year term if
not renewed.
   (2) Registrations of dispensing opticians will expire at midnight
on the last day of the month in which the license was issued during
the second year of a two-year term if not renewed.
   (b) The Division of Licensing shall establish by regulation
procedures for the administration of a birth date renewal program,
including, but not limited to, the establishment of a system of
staggered license expiration dates such that a relatively equal
number of licenses expire monthly.
   (c) To renew an unexpired license, the licensee shall, on or
before the dates on which it would otherwise expire, apply for
renewal on a form prescribed by the licensing authority and pay the
prescribed renewal fee.

2424.  (a) The Division of Licensing or the California Board of
Podiatric Medicine, as the case may be, shall notify in writing by
certified mail, return receipt requested, any physician and surgeon
or any podiatrist who does not renew his or her license within 60
days from its date of expiration.
   (b) Notwithstanding Section 163.5, any such licensee who does not
renew his or her expired license within 90 days of its date of
expiration shall pay all the following fees:
   (1) The renewal fee in effect at the time of renewal.
   (2) A penalty fee equal to 50 percent of the renewal fee.
   (3) The delinquency fee required by Section 2435 or 2499.5, as the
case may be.
   (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the renewal of any
expired physician's and surgeon's or podiatrist's license within six
months from its date of expiration shall be retroactive to the date
of expiration of that license. The division or board, for good cause,
may waive the 50 percent penalty fee and may extend retroactivity up
to two years from the expiration date of any such license.

2425.  (a) The Division of Licensing may prepare and mail to every
licensed physician at the time of license renewal a questionnaire
containing any questions as are necessary to establish that the
physician currently has no mental, physical, emotional, or behavioral
disorder that would impair the physician's ability to practice
medicine safely.
   (b) Each licensed physician shall complete, sign, and return the
questionnaire to the Division of Licensing as a condition of renewing
his or her license.

2425.1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) Currently, California is experiencing an access to health care
crisis that, in large measure, is the result of medical group
insolvency, health facility closures, low or no reimbursement rates,
and an increasing number of uninsured.
   (b) Adding to the access to health care crisis is a state
population that is growing in cultural and linguistic diversity as
well as in absolute numbers.
   (c) On paper, California appears to have an adequate number of
physicians in most areas of the state. California, however, does not
have data indicating the cultural and linguistic background of
licensed physicians, how many physicians are actively practicing
medicine, how many physicians are practicing part time, how many
physicians have retired from practice, or how many physicians have
moved into administrative positions and no longer treat patients.
   (d) In order to fully understand and cope with California's access
to health care crisis, it is necessary to collect data concerning
the status and scope of practice of California's licensed physicians
as well as his or her cultural and linguistic background.

2425.3.  (a) A licensed physician and surgeon shall report to the
board, immediately upon issuance of an initial license and at the
time of license renewal, any specialty board certification he or she
holds that is issued by a member board of the American Board of
Medical Specialties or approved by the Medical Board of California.
   (b) A licensed physician and surgeon shall also report to the
board, immediately upon issuance of an initial license and at the
time of license renewal, his or her practice status, designated as
one of the following:
   (1) Full-time practice in California.
   (2) Full-time practice outside of California.
   (3) Part-time practice in California.
   (4) Medical administrative employment that does not include direct
patient care.
   (5) Retired.
   (6) Other practice status, as may be further defined by the board.
   (c) (1) A licensed physician and surgeon shall report to the
board, immediately upon issuance of an initial license and at the
time of license renewal, and the board shall collect, information
regarding his or her cultural background and foreign language
proficiency. The board shall provide an option for a licensed
physician and surgeon to decline to state in the report his or her
cultural background and foreign language proficiency.
   (2) Information collected pursuant to this subdivision shall be
aggregated on an annual basis based on categories utilized by the
board in the collection of the data, and shall be aggregated into
both statewide totals and ZIP code of primary practice location
totals.
   (3) Aggregated information under this subdivision shall be
compiled annually and reported on the board's Internet Web site on or
before October 1 of each year.
   (d) The information collected pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b)
may also be placed on the board's Internet Web site.

2426.  (a) A licensee shall report to the board at the time of
renewal of a license any financial interest that the licensee or a
member of the licensee's immediate family may have in a
health-related facility. The report shall be made on a form provided
by the board.
   (b) For purposes of this section, all of the following shall
apply:
   (1) A "financial interest" includes, but is not limited to, any
type of ownership interest, debt, loan, lease, compensation,
remuneration, discount, rebate, refund, dividend, distribution,
subsidy, or other form of direct or indirect payment, whether in
money or otherwise, to a licensee or the licensee's immediate family
from a health-related facility.
   (2) A "financial interest" also exists if there is an indirect
relationship between a licensee and the health-related facility
including, but not limited to, an arrangement whereby a licensee has
an ownership interest in an entity that leases property to the
health-related facility. Any financial interest transferred by a
licensee to, or otherwise established in, any person or entity for
the purpose of avoiding the reporting required by this section shall
be deemed a financial interest of the licensee.
   (3) A "financial interest" does not include a licensee's ownership
of corporate investment securities, including shares, bonds, or
other debt instruments that are purchased from a licensed securities
broker on terms that are available to the general public through a
licensed securities exchange or NASDAQ, do not base profit
distributions or other transfers of value on the licensee's referral
of persons to the corporation, do not have a separate class or
accounting for any persons or for any licensees who may refer persons
to the corporation, and are in a corporation that had, at the end of
the corporation's most recent fiscal year, total gross assets
exceeding one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000).
   (4) "Immediate family" includes a spouse, child, or parent of a
licensee, and a spouse of a child of a licensee.
   (5) "Licensee" means a physician and surgeon licensed pursuant to
this chapter.
   (6) A "health-related facility" shall include a facility for
clinical laboratory services, radiation oncology, physical therapy,
physical rehabilitation, psychometric testing, home infusion therapy,
diagnostic imaging, and outpatient surgery centers. "Diagnostic
imaging" shall include, but is not limited to, all X-ray, computed
axial tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine,
positron emission tomography, mammography, and ultrasound goods and
services.
   (c) The information reported to the board shall be available to
government agencies and public or private payers.
   (d) The board may impose appropriate sanctions, including the
issuance of a citation and civil penalty under Section 125.9, against
any licensee who fails to comply with this section.
   (e) This section shall become operative on July 1, 1994.

2427.  (a) Except as provided in Section 2429, a license which has
expired may be renewed at any time within five years after its
expiration on filing an application for renewal on a form prescribed
by the licensing authority and payment of all accrued renewal fees
and any other fees required by Section 2424. If the license is not
renewed within 30 days after its expiration, the licensee, as a
condition precedent to renewal, shall also pay the prescribed
delinquency fee, if any. Except as provided in Section 2424, renewal
under this section shall be effective on the date on which the
renewal application is filed, on the date on which the renewal fee or
accrued renewal fees are paid, or on the date on which the
delinquency fee or the delinquency fee and penalty fee, if any, are
paid, whichever last occurs. If so renewed, the license shall
continue in effect through the expiration date set forth in Section
2422 or 2423 which next occurs after the effective date of the
renewal, when it shall expire and become invalid if it is not again
renewed.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the license of a doctor of
podiatric medicine which has expired may be renewed at any time
within three years after its expiration on filing an application for
renewal on a form prescribed by the licensing authority and payment
of all accrued renewal fees and any other fees required by Section
2424. If the license is not renewed within 30 days after its
expiration, the licensee, as a condition precedent to renewal, shall
also pay the prescribed delinquency fee, if any. Except as provided
in Section 2424, renewal under this section shall be effective on the
date on which the renewal application is filed, on the date on which
the renewal fee or accrued renewal fees are paid, or on the date on
which the delinquency fee or the delinquency fee and penalty fee, if
any, are paid, whichever last occurs. If so renewed, the license
shall continue in effect through the expiration date set forth in
Section 2422 or 2423 which next occurs after the effective date of
the renewal, when it shall expire and become invalid if it is not
again renewed.

2428.  (a) A person who fails to renew his or her license within
five years after its expiration may not renew it, and it may not be
reissued, reinstated, or restored thereafter, but that person may
apply for and obtain a new license if he or she:
   (1) Has not committed any acts or crimes constituting grounds for
denial of licensure under Division 1.5 (commencing with Section 475).
   (2) Takes and passes the examination, if any, which would be
required of him or her if application for licensure was being made
for the first time, or otherwise establishes to the satisfaction of
the licensing authority that passes on the qualifications of
applicants for the license that, with due regard for the public
interest, he or she is qualified to practice the profession or
activity for which the applicant was originally licensed.
   (3) Pays all of the fees that would be required if application for
licensure was being made for the first time.
   The licensing authority may provide for the waiver or refund of
all or any part of an examination fee in those cases in which a
license is issued without an examination pursuant to this section.
   Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the
issuance of a license for a professional activity or system or mode
of healing for which licenses are no longer required.
   (b) In addition to the requirements set forth in subdivision (a),
an applicant shall establish that he or she meets one of the
following requirements: (1) satisfactory completion of at least two
years of approved postgraduate training; (2) certification by a
specialty board approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties
or approved by the Division of Licensing pursuant to subdivision (h)
of Section 651; or (3) passing of the clinical competency written
examination.
   (c) Subdivision (a) shall apply to persons who held licenses to
practice podiatric medicine except that those persons who failed to
renew their licenses within three years after its expiration may not
renew it, and it may not be reissued, reinstated, or restored, except
in accordance with subdivision (a).

2429.  (a) A license which is suspended for unprofessional conduct
is subject to expiration and shall be renewed as provided in this
article, but such renewal does not entitle the licensee, while the
license remains suspended, and until it is reinstated, to engage in
the licensed activity, or in any other activity or conduct in
violation of the order or judgment by which the license was
suspended.
   (b) A license which is revoked for unprofessional conduct is
subject to expiration as provided in this article, but it shall not
be renewed. If it is reinstated by the licensing authority after its
expiration, the licensee, as a condition precedent to reinstatement
or restoration of licensure, shall pay a reinstatement fee which is
an amount equal to the current renewal fee, plus the delinquency fee,
if any.

2432.  Upon filing an application therefor, containing such
information as the licensing authority may require and accompanied by
the required duplicate certificate fee, if any, a duplicate
certificate may be issued to any person so licensed under the
applicable provisions of law where the same certificate applied for
has been previously issued or, where there has been a change in name,
another certificate in lieu of one previously issued.

2433.  Upon filing an application therefor, containing such
information as the licensing authority may require and accompanied by
the required endorsement fee, if any, the licensure or credentials
of the person so licensed may be endorsed or certified.