Members Present:
David Lonbaken, DPM, President
Neil Skea, DPM, Member
John Forrette, DPM, Secretary/Treasurer
Jeanie Blair, RN, Lay Member
Others Present:
Carol Tellinghuisen, Executive Secretary
Paula Spargur, Executive Assistant
Members Absent:
Scott Shindler, DPM, Education Officer
President Lonbaken called the meeting to order at 11:09 AM MT.
Corrections or additions to the agenda: There were no corrections or additions to the agenda.
Scope of practice discussion: The Board received correspondence from a licensed Podiatrist requesting an interpretation of the scope of practice. The Board discussed the January 15, 2005 memo from Tom Stanton, outside legal counsel and the advice from Steve Blair, Assistant Attorney General. Both have advised us that the Board should not be opining on specific procedures and whether they are covered by SDCL 36-8-1.
The January 15, 2005 memo advised that the Board of Examiners of Podiatrists accepted the following resolution:
Be it Resolved that the Board accepts the opinion and recommendation of Attorney Thomas W. Stanton, who has been assigned to advise the Board. His opinion is that the scope of practice statute SDCL 36-8-1 appears to provide an extremely broad scope for podiatric physicians. His recommendation is that, however, the Board refrain from opining on specific procedures, particularly after another Board has issued an opinion that appears to be inconsistent with the statute. In such a situation, it would be up to the individual podiatric physician and his or her private legal counsel to determine the legal meaning of the relevant statute.
The Board agreed that they will refrain from opining on specific procedures and will leave the ability to perform specific procedures up to the credentialing facility and if there is a disagreement it is up to the Podiatrist to obtain their own legal counsel.
Forrette moved and Skea seconded to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried by unanimous vote. The meeting was adjourned at 11:53 AM MT.
