If you have been arrested for a DUI in Seattle or anywhere in Washington State and you are a licensed health care professional then you could face the possibility of serious job related repercussions depending on the final outcome of your case. In light of this, it is in the best interest of any licensed health care professional to immediately contact a Seattle DUI lawyer when arrested for DUI.
The applicable Washington State statute related to disciplinary actions against licensed health care professionals is RCW 18.130.180. RCW 18.130.180 lays out what conduct, acts, or conditions constitute unprofessional conduct for a license holder. A first offense DUI is a gross misdemeanor in Washington State and thus falls within the realm of RCW 18.130.180.
So what happens if a licensed health care professional under the purview of Chapter 18 of the RCW’s gets convicted of a DUI? Well that is a good question. For a conviction of a gross misdemeanor DUI the minimum conditions may be some sort of reprimand, training, monitoring, probation, or supervision. The maximum penalty could include oversight for 5 years involving the same sort of probation, training, and supervision. Based on the foregoing, the good news is that it appears that a first offense DUI may not result in a license suspension. The bad news is that a first offense DUI conviction for a licensed health care provider, as defined and bound by RCW 18.130, probably does involve some sort of supervisory condition, at the discretion of the Department of Health.
Like anyone else, a licensed healthcare professional cited for DUI in Washington state should immediately seek the assistance of a Seattle DUI lawyer. A qualified and respected Seattle DUI attorney can quite possibly minimize not only licensing consequences, but also save a person thousands of dollars in court and insurance fees.