12/16/2020

Medical Board of Ohio Meeting Highlights

The State Medical Board of Ohio met on December 9, 2020. Below are the meeting highlights:

Light-Based Medical Devices
Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 4731-18

Currently, the medical board’s light-based medical rules prohibit the delegation of light-based medical devices for all purposes except hair removal. The medical board is proposing changes to the rules that would allow the delegation of these devices in limited circumstances. The proposed rules lay out the framework for physician delegation and application of light-based medical devices.The proposed rules would NOT allow a physician to delegate the application of light-based medical devices for ablative procedures. The rules only allow delegation for specific types of non-ablative procedures.

Weight Loss Prescribing Rules
Ohio Administrative Code 4731-11-04 and 4731-11-04.1

The medical board is currently reviewing its long-standing rules regarding prescribing controlled substances for the treatment of obesity. OSMA has historically had concerns with the limitations that these rules place on physicians who treat patients with obesity. At the request of OSMA, the medical board recently held a meeting with local and national weight loss experts aimed at learning more about current medication and prescribing practices. The experts opined that Ohio has some of the strictest rules in the country and Ohio’s patients are suffering because they cannot access adequate prescription medication treatment. 

Ohio’s rules place time limitations on prescriptions that, many times, force physicians to stop a medication that is showing positive weight loss results.

OSMA is actively following this issue and we are hopeful that the medical board will make changes to Ohio’s rules that will enable physicians to utilize their training and professional judgment, instead of restrictive time limits, when treating some of Ohio’s most vulnerable patients.

Medical Licensure Renewal Extended to July 1, 2021

The State Medical Board of Ohio released the following statement regarding medical licensure renewal:

House Bill 404 was signed by Governor DeWine on November 23, 2020. The provisions related to the extension of the COVID-19 emergency are effective immediately.

Medical Board licensees who have licenses set to expire during the period of emergency (March 9, 2020 – April 1, 2021) now have until July 1, 2021 to renew their license.

Despite this renewal extension, all affected licensees are still able to renew at their regularly scheduled deadline. A couple benefits to doing so are:

• There is no risk of forgetting to do so later resulting in an expired license and having to pay an additional late renewal fee.
• Staying on the same renewal cycle timeline you are used to. Whether you renew now or at a later date, your next license renewal date will not change. For example, if your license is due to expire on January 1, 2021, your next renewal date will be on January 1, 2023, regardless of when you renew during this extension period.

New Medical Board Member

Governor Mike DeWine recently appointed Yeshwant P. Reddy, MD, FRCS, FAAPMR, ABIPP of Dublin, Ohio. Dr. Reddy is on the medical staff at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus and lectures and teaches at various Interventional Pain Courses around the country. He is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain medicine through the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Reddy is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Glasgow, UK. His term begins December 14 and ends on March 18, 2025.

2021 Medical Board President/Vice President

• Dr. Mark Bechtel, President
• Betty Montgomery, Vice-President