SJC Reverses 20 Year Practice of Mass. Board of Registration in Medicine

KCL Andrew L. Hyams

By: KCL ~ June 8, 2015

In a June 9, 2015 decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, reversed the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine ruling regarding the temporary suspension of a doctor’s license. Associate Justice Robert J. Cordy, in a Single Justice decision, found in favor of Kerstein, Coren & Lichtenstein’s client agreeing that a temporary suspension must be supported at the summary suspension hearing by a preponderance of the evidence, not just substantial evidence.

Judge Cordy’s ruling reverses more than 20 years of practice by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. Andrew L. Hyams, a partner at KCL, was brought into the case after the doctor lost his medical license in a summary suspension hearing.  Mr. Hyams represented the doctor in his appeal to the SJC.

The case is Sheldon Randall, M.D. vs. Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. It was featured on the front page of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly in a June 29, 2015 article, “Burden upped for temp suspension of doctors.”