P.R. Laws tit. 20, § 203i
The proceedings against any person shall be initiated by filing a complaint sworn before the Board by any natural or juridical person or legally constituted entity. Once the complaint is filed before the Board, it shall determine if it will or will not take action on the charges that are filed. The person against whom it is filed shall be notified. He shall be advised of his right to defend himself by presenting a written answer to the charges within a term of twenty (20) working days from the date of notice. The notification shall include a concise and simple summary of the main facts of the charges filed. The affected party shall have the right to appear by himself or represented by counsel if he so desires and present oral or written evidence in his favor at the hearing that shall be held twenty (20) working days after the answer is presented to the Board by the respondent.
(1) The Board may seek advice from the Consulting Committee as to the result of the investigations carried out by the Board, the evidence presented and the appropriate recommendations in order to deal with the administrative hearing process. After studying and deliberating on the merits of each case, the Board shall come to its own conclusions. If a person is found to have been guilty of the violations or crimes with which he is charged, the license issued shall be revoked or annulled provisionally or permanently and cancelling his name from the Health Professionals Register, as may be fitting, and ordering his suspension from the practice of his profession or occupation, or the imposition of any other disciplinary measure that the Board deems proper.
(2) The Board’s decision denying, suspending or revoking a license may be reconsidered by it within thirty (30) days following the notice of such decision by means of a request to such effects by the affected party.
(3) Once any license of those issued under §§ 203—203r of this title is revoked or suspended, it shall so be stated in the Board’s records by stamping the license as “cancelled” from the date it was revoked.
(4) Any person whose license is revoked or suspended pursuant to what is established by §§ 203—203r of this title shall have the right to appear before the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico through an appeal for review within a term of thirty (30) days counting from the date the affected party is notified of the Board’s resolution by certified mail with acknowledgment of receipt requested. While this legal recourse is heard the license shall continue to be denied, revoked or suspended, whatever the case may be. The accused person shall not practice in Puerto Rico if such was the sanction imposed by the Board.
(5) The Board may administer oaths and issue summons related to any investigation, filing of charges or process which is being heard before the Board as provided in this section. By request of the accused person, it shall be the duty of the Chairman of the Board to issue summons for his witnesses to compel them to appear and present oral and written evidence.
(6) The Board shall not be obligated to strictly follow the Rules of Civil Procedure, Criminal, or Evidence of the courts of justice of Puerto Rico in effect when conducting the proceedings in the hearings that shall be held to hear the charges filed, but the Board’s decision must be grounded on substantial legal evidence in order to sustain the charges.
(7) The Department of Justice shall offer advice and legal assistance to the Board when it requests it officially.
(8) No Board member shall participate in any way in the investigations, filing of charges or hearings of the charges filed, if he is related to the witnesses to the facts or the complainant, by ties within the fourth degree of consanguinity or the second degree of affinity.
History —Oct. 11, 1987, No. 9, p. 956, § 11, eff. 90 days after Oct. 11, 1987.