Florida Statutes 456.61 – Use of free speech by a health care practitioner; prohibition
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
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Terms Used In Florida Statutes 456.61
- Board: means any board or commission, or other statutorily created entity to the extent such entity is authorized to exercise regulatory or rulemaking functions, within the department, except that, for ss. See Florida Statutes 456.001
- Department: means the Department of Health. See Florida Statutes 456.001
- Health care practitioner: means any person licensed under chapter 457; chapter 458; chapter 459; chapter 460; chapter 461; chapter 462; chapter 463; chapter 464; chapter 465; chapter 466; chapter 467; part I, part II, part III, part V, part X, part XIII, or part XIV of chapter 468; chapter 478; chapter 480; part I, part II, or part III of chapter 483; chapter 484; chapter 486; chapter 490; or chapter 491. See Florida Statutes 456.001
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- License: means any permit, registration, certificate, or license, including a provisional license, issued by the department. See Florida Statutes 456.001
(1) A board, or the department if there is no board, may not take disciplinary action against a health care practitioner‘s license or deny a license to an individual solely because the individual has spoken or written publicly about a health care service or public policy, including, but not limited to, speech through the use of a social media platform as defined in s. 501.2041, provided that the individual is not using such speech or written communication to provide medical advice or treatment to a specific patient or patients, and provided that such speech or written communication does not separately violate any other applicable law or rule.
(2) If a specialty board or other recognizing agency approved by any board within the jurisdiction of the department revokes the certification of an individual solely because the individual has spoken or written publicly about a health care service or public policy, including, but not limited to, speech through the use of a social media platform as defined in s. 501.2041, provided such individual was not providing medical advice or treatment to a specific patient and provided such speech did not separately violate any other applicable law, the board within the jurisdiction of the department may revoke its approval of such specialty board or other recognizing agency.