Findings Of Fact Respondent is a licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer. Respondent was a full-time employee of State Society for Cremation, Inc.; hereinafter referred to as the Society. Respondent's duties included picking up the deceased, transporting the deceased to the crematory, placing the deceased in a lined (container), placing the deceased in refrigerated storage for 48 hours as required by law, contacting the family, preparing paper work, signing death certificates, obtaining cremation permit, supervision cremation and disposal of the remains. Respondent's picture together with information about the Society was published in a local paper as an advertisement. (See Plaintiff's' Exhibit D.) Respondent did sign death certificates in block 25b; FUNERAL DIRECTOR, and the name of State Society for Cremation, Inc., was entered in block 25a, FUNERAL HOME - NAME AND ADDRESS. Respondent called upon Mabel Jensen and Leonard Jensen and obtained their signatures on two contracts upon payment of $22 each, however, according to the Society's President, the Society never used door to door solicitation. The Society maintains a specific location for the preparation and maintenance of dead human bodies prior to cremation and for its crematorium. The Society did actively seek business by various means of directly contacting individual members of the public to include direct mailings and telephone solicitation, although telephone solicitation was stopped in October 1975.
Recommendation The Hearing Officer based on the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions of law recommends that the Respondent's license be revoked with consideration for reinstatement in six months. DONE and ORDERED this 14th day of June, 1976. STEPHEN F. DEAN Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304 (904) 488-9675 COPIES FURNISHED: Douglas R. Evenue 4114 11th Street North St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 Mr. R. C. Blanton, Jr. Executive Secretary State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers Kenneth F. Hoffman, Esquire Post Office Box 1872 Tallahassee, Florida 32302 G. Kenneth Norrie, Esquire 1300 Florida Title Building Jacksonville, Florida 32202
The Issue The issue for determination is whether Petitioner is eligible for licensure as a physician in Florida by endorsement pursuant to Chapter 456, Florida Statutes, in view of his alleged violations of Section 458.331(1)(h),(k) and (m), Florida Statutes.
Findings Of Fact Petitioner is licensed as a physician in the state of Kentucky. Petitioner's application for licensure by endorsement in the State of Florida was preliminarily denied by Respondent on April 25, 2001. As grounds for its intended denial, Respondent stated that Petitioner had: (1) signed a Kentucky death certificate for an individual that Petitioner had not examined; (2) diagnosed psychosis based on an informal conversation previously had with the individual; (3) failed to keep records of the informal conversation or consultation with the individual; and (4) submitted a post death diagnosis of the individual to the Social Security Administration, without a medical examination of the individual, in order to obtain social security benefits for the individual's wife. The individual referenced by Respondent's denial was Claude B. Williams. He was the husband of the sister of Petitioner's wife. Petitioner did not have a close relationship with Williams. Petitioner spoke with Williams a few times at their mother-in-law's house. In the course of one of these conversations on November 8, 1996, Petitioner refused to provide a prescription for back pain mediation to Williams on the basis that Williams was not his patient. On November 19, 1996, Williams suddenly took his pistol out of his bedroom and shot himself in the head in front of his wife and her two children by a former marriage. Williams died instantly. Petitioner was not involved in an autopsy of Williams. Nevertheless, Williams' widow asked Petitioner to sign a death certificate for the dead man so that she could apply for social security benefits. The coroner investigating the death had not yet issued a death certificate. Petitioner acceded to his sister-in-law's request in December of 1996, by writing a letter to the Social Security Administration. On Petitioner's professional letterhead, the letter was signed by Petitioner in his capacity as a physician. Petitioner recounted in the letter that Williams had "consulted" him on November 8, 1996. The letter concluded with Petitioner's diagnosis that Williams suffered an acute psychotic breakdown due to a toxic drug reaction, which in turn led to Williams' death. The letter was couched in terms that presumed a physician-patient relationship and did not reveal that Petitioner was not the treating physician for Williams. On January 14, 1997, Petitioner met with and sought to influence the coroner (a lay person) who was investigating Williams' death in the state of Kentucky. The coroner told Petitioner that it could be a year before the death certificate was issued by the coroner as certain test results were not yet available. Petitioner did not discuss with the coroner the idea of Petitioner personally signing a death certificate for Williams. Petitioner went to the funeral home following his discussion with the coroner and proffered a death certificate that he had prepared to the director of the funeral home, asking the director to file the certificate. The director refused to file the certificate. In the proffered death certificate, Petitioner had set forth a diagnosis for Williams' death: "[A]cute toxic delirium, depression and psychosis" resulting from a reaction to a high dose of steroids. This diagnosis was based solely on the one conversation that Williams had with Petitioner on November 8, 1996, and was not based on a physical examination or any diagnostic tests of Williams. The parties have stipulated that Williams died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on November 19, 1996. The coroner filed a complaint against Petitioner on March 10, 1997, with the Kentucky Board of Medicine. In response to an investigation conducted by that Board, Petitioner asserted that "a physician/patient relationship existed" between himself and Williams. Petitioner did not have and did not maintain any records documenting treatment or consultation with Williams. The Kentucky Board of Medicine found that Petitioner's actions constituted misconduct, although not serious enough to warrant issuance of a disciplinary complaint.
Recommendation Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED: That a Final Order be entered denying Petitioner's application for licensure in the State of Florida by endorsement. DONE AND ENTERED this 13th day of September, 2001, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. DON W. DAVIS Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 SUNCOM 278-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 13th day of September, 2001. COPIES FURNISHED: Lee Ann Gustafson, Esquire Office of the Attorney General Department of Legal Affairs The Capitol, Plaza Level 01 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050 M. Catherine Lannon, Esquire Office of the Attorney General Department of Legal Affairs The Capitol, Plaza Level 01 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050 A. S. Weekley, Jr., M.D., Esquire Holland and Knight LLP 400 North Ashley Drive Suite 2300 Tampa, Florida 33602-4300 Tanya Williams, Executive Director Board of Medicine Department of Health 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin A02 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1701 William W. Large, General Counsel Department of Health 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin A02 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1701 Theodore M. Henderson, Agency Clerk Department of Health 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin A02 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1701
The Issue The issue in this case is whether Respondent should deny Petitioner's application to take the Funeral Directors and Embalmers examination on the ground that Petitioner was convicted of crimes that directly relate to the ability to practice funeral directing within the meaning of Section 470.009(1)(c), Florida Statutes (1999). (All statutory references are to Florida Statutes (1999) unless otherwise stated.)
Findings Of Fact Respondent is the state agency responsible for the licensing and regulating funeral directors and embalmers in the state. Petitioner is 30 years old and has been working as an employee in three different funeral homes since 1996. On October 12, 1999, Petitioner applied to take the licensing examination and to be licensed as a funeral director and embalmer. Respondent denied the application on the ground that Petitioner was convicted of four felonies between 1989 and 1994. The parties stipulated that Petitioner satisfies each of the requirements for examination and licensure as a funeral director and embalmer except for Petitioner's criminal record. The only factual issue is whether one or more of the criminal offenses "directly relates to the ability to practice funeral directing or the practice of funeral directing" within the meaning of Section 470.006(1)(c). Three of the four felonies at issue were third degree felonies for burglary of a conveyance, i.e., an automobile, in violation of Section 810.02(3). The fourth felony was a second degree felony for shooting into an occupied vehicle. The exact dates of the offenses are not in evidence. Petitioner testified that all of the offenses occurred within six weeks of each other. The court documents in Respondent's Exhibit 1 do not reflect the date of the offense but only the year of the case number and the date of adjudication and sentence. Petitioner was 19 years old when he was sentenced for his first burglary on June 29, 1989. The court withheld adjudication of guilt for the first automobile burglary in 1989 in Case Number 89-7903CF and sentenced Petitioner to one year of probation. On February 12, 1993, the court revoked Petitioner's probation for a second automobile burglary in 1993 in Case Number 93-0543CFA. The court found Petitioner guilty of a second degree felony for shooting into an occupied vehicle in violation of Section 790.19. The court sentenced Petitioner to concurrent terms of eight months in the Duval County Jail for both felonies and gave Petitioner credit for 52 days served prior to sentencing. On March 24, 1995, Petitioner entered a plea of nolo contendere to a 1994 charge of automobile burglary. The court found Petitioner guilty and sentenced Petitioner to 364 days in the Duval County Jail. Petitioner claims that the last offense actually occurred in 1993. He testified that the charge was filed in 1994 and that the sentencing occurred in 1995. The court documents are silent on those issues. Petitioner was 23 in 1993. Living in a correctional institution "scared" Petitioner. He feared that he might spend the rest of his life in similar facilities. Petitioner decided that he wanted to live a productive life like other people. After release from jail, Petitioner earned his high school diploma and then attended St. Petersburg Junior College. On August 1, 1997, Petitioner earned an Associate in Science Degree in Funeral Services. Petitioner paid for his education through student loans and part-time employment. Petitioner first worked at a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet for minimum wage. He then obtained a job paying $5.75 an hour at the Creal Funeral Home in St. Petersburg, Florida. Petitioner then worked for a second funeral home known as Memorial Park. After completing his education, Petitioner returned to Jacksonville and worked for Wendell Holmes Funeral Home. Petitioner worked in all of the funeral home jobs to learn his profession. Each job paid minimum wage or slightly more than minimum wage. Petitioner sees a license as a funeral director and embalmer as an opportunity to help people in their time of need and for Petitioner to integrate into society. The work Petitioner has performed makes him feel good about himself, especially when someone from a bereaved family tells Petitioner that he did a good job. At the hearing, Petitioner admitted to committing the offenses and accepted personal responsibility. However, Petitioner has no fear that his criminal history would adversely affect his ability to practice funeral directing. On June 25, 1999, Petitioner passed the National Board Exam given by The International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards, Inc. Petitioner earned an overall exam score of 83.
Recommendation Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that Respondent enter a final order finding that Petitioner satisfies the requirements of Section 470.009(1)(c). DONE AND ENTERED this 30th day of August, 2000, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. DANIEL MANRY Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 SUNCOM 278-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 30th day of August, 2000. COPIES FURNISHED: Barbara Rockhill Edwards, Esquire Department of Legal Affairs The Capitol, Plaza Level 01 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050 Thomas A. Delegal, III, Esquire Delegal Law Offices, P.A. 424 East Monroe Street Jacksonville, Florida 32202 Madeline Smith, Executive Director Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers Department of Business and Professional Regulation Northwood Centre 1940 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0792 Barbara D. Auger, General Counsel Department of Business and Professional Regulation Northwood Centre 1940 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0792
