DIVISION 1. DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
CHAPTER 1. DIVISION OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION-QUALIFIED MEDICAL EVALUATOR
Article 15. Fraudulent or Misleading Advertising
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§153. False or Misleading Advertising Copy Prohibited.
No physician subject to these regulations, or any person acting on his or her behalf or for his or her benefit, shall use, cause to be used, or allow to be used:
(a) Any advertising copy which, through endorsements, testimonials or other representations, makes or implies any guarantee, warranty, or prediction that is intended, or is likely, to create a false or unjustified expectation of favorable results concerning the outcome of the employment of the physician.
(b) Any advertising copy which by use of a firm name, trade name, fictitious business name, or other professional designation states or implies a relationship between any physician in private practice and any governmental agency or entity, with the exception that, as provided in section 154 below, a physician currently or previously certified by the Administrative Director as a Qualified Medical Evaluator may state this fact in advertising copy, a curriculum vitae or in descriptive text, only for the period of time that is true and correct.
(c) Any advertising copy which states or implies that a medical-legal report written by any physician, or group or association of physicians enjoys any special degree of credibility by any workers' compensation judge or judges.
(d) Any advertising copy which advises or recommends the securing of any medical-legal examination, or which suggests that a tactical advantage may be secured by obtaining any medical-legal evaluation.
(e) Any advertising copy which contains the phrase "Qualified Medical Evaluator" or the designation "QME" unless such phrase is used to identify individual physicians who are currently certified as QMEs by the Administrative Director in accordance with Labor Code section 139.2.
(f) Any advertising copy which contains a firm name, trade name, or fictitious business name which contains the phrases "Qualified Medical Evaluator," "Qualified Medical Examiner", "Agreed Medical Evaluator", "Agreed Medical Examiner", "Independent Medical Examiner" , "Independent Medical Evaluator" or the designations "QME", "AME" or "IME."
(g) Any advertising copy which states or implies that any physician has an ongoing appointment, title or professional status as an "Agreed Medical Examiner," "Agreed Medical Evaluator", "Independent Medical Examiner," "AME," or "IME."
(h) Any advertising copy which states or implies that the physician is currently an "Agreed Medical Examiner" or "Independent Medical Examiner" in the California Workers' Compensation system.
| Note: Authority cited: Sections 133, 139.4, 139.45 and 5307.3, Labor Code. Reference: Sections 28, 139.2, 139.4 and 139.45, Labor Code. |
2. Amendment of subsections (b), (e) and (f), new subsection (h) and amendment of Note filed 1-13-2009; operative 2-17-2009 (Register 2009, No. 3).
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