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Published June 14, 2026 Author: Jordan Fensterman, Esq. Executive Partner and Director of of the OPMC & OPD Defense Practice at Abrams Fensterman, LLP. 516-368-9430 |
What Happens If a Physician Is Convicted of a Crime in New York?
Once a conviction is entered, whether for driving while intoxicated, an assault, a sex offense, or a crime that has nothing to do with medicine at all, it will automatically become grounds for a professional misconduct case that threatens the physician’s medical license.
How Does a Criminal Conviction Become an OPMC Case?
A criminal conviction triggers an automatic professional misconduct charge for a New York physician under Education Law §6530(9)(a). Abrams Fensterman represents physicians in the expedited OPMC Referral Proceeding that follows, in which the underlying conviction is not relitigated, and only the penalty is contested. Felony convictions can lead to summary suspension before a hearing is even scheduled.
How a Criminal Charge Becomes an OPMC Case
New York Education Law §6530(9)(a) makes it professional misconduct for a physician to be convicted of an act constituting a crime under New York law, federal law, or the law of any other jurisdiction that would be a crime here. When the New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct proceeds against a physician based solely on a criminal conviction, it does so through a special expedited process called a Referral Proceeding.
Because the criminal case was already proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the physician is collaterally estopped from contesting guilt again at the OPMC hearing, and the physician’s defense shifts entirely to arguing against the severity of the penalty.
Felony Convictions and the Risk of Summary Suspension
A felony conviction carries the most immediate danger. Under Public Health Law §230, OPMC can move for summary suspension of a physician’s license while the Referral Proceeding is pending, meaning a physician can be barred from practicing medicine before any hearing on penalty has taken place. Misdemeanor convictions usually do not carry the same automatic suspension risk. However, they still fall within §6530(9)(a).
Crimes That Commonly Lead to OPMC Referral Proceedings
DWI Convictions
A DWI conviction is a crime under New York Penal Law and satisfies §6530(9)(a) on its own. OPMC may also examine whether the underlying conduct reflects a moral unfitness to practice and/or if there is impairment that affects a physician’s fitness to practice.
Assault on an Employee or a Patient
A conviction for physically assaulting a patient or staff member triggers §6530(9)(a) directly, and it frequently overlaps with the separate misconduct ground of willfully harassing, abusing, or intimidating a patient physically or verbally under §6530(31).
Sexual Assault or Sexual Misconduct
These convictions carry the highest exposure. Beyond §6530(9)(a), sexual offense convictions routinely support an additional charge of conduct evidencing moral unfitness to practice medicine under §6530(20), and for psychiatrists specifically, any sexual contact with a patient is separately barred under §6530(44).
Crimes Unrelated to the Practice of Medicine
Section 6530(9)(a) does not require that the crime have anything to do with treating patients. A conviction for fraud, a drug offense, or another crime entirely outside a physician’s practice can still support a referral proceeding because the fact of conviction itself triggers the statute.
Does a Misdemeanor Conviction Put My License at Risk Too?
Yes. While felony convictions carry a more substantial risk of summary suspension, a misdemeanor conviction still falls within §6530(9)(a) and independently supports a misconduct finding.
Hospital Reporting Obligations Can Trigger an OPMC Referral
Hospitals and other licensed facilities are required under New York law to report information indicating that a physician has been convicted of a crime, which means an OPMC referral can originate from an employer’s reporting duty rather than from the physician’s own disclosure.
Why the Criminal Case and the OPMC Case Need Coordinated Defense
By the time a conviction is entered, the plea and pretrial decisions that could have kept Section 6530(9)(a) from applying at all have usually already been made. For how those earlier, pre-conviction decisions affect OPMC exposure, see what happens when a physician is charged with a crime but not yet convicted.
How Abrams Fensterman Defends Physicians Convicted of Crimes
Led by Jordan Fensterman, Executive Partner and Director of the OPMC Defense & OPD Defense Practice at Abrams Fensterman, LLP and Michael G. Bass, Esq. former head litigator and Deputy General Counsel at the NYS Department of Health (DOH), the firm represents physicians at every stage of a criminal-conviction-based OPMC case, from the initial referral through the hearing on penalty. Because guilt is often already established by the time a referral proceeding begins, the firm’s defense concentrates on the areas physicians can still control: presenting mitigation, rehabilitation, and clinical context to the hearing committee to argue against license revocation.
For a look at how these arguments play out, see the firm’s OPMC defense results and success stories. Physicians who are also confronting a separate civil claim arising from the same underlying conduct can review the firm’s medical malpractice defense practice for how parallel civil and disciplinary matters are coordinated.
For physicians whose OPMC exposure comes from an investigation rather than a criminal conviction, the standard OPMC investigation process explains that separate path. A physician facing a criminal charge should contact the firm immediately, before a plea is entered, at (516) 368-9430.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a criminal conviction always lead to license revocation?
No. A conviction triggers the misconduct charge and shifts the case to penalty alone. However, the hearing committee still has discretion, and outcomes range from a censure or fine to a suspension or revocation depending on the conduct and the mitigation presented.
Can I contest whether I actually committed the crime at my OPMC hearing?
Generally no. Because collateral estoppel applies once a physician is convicted, the OPMC hearing on a Referral Proceeding focuses on the appropriate penalty, not on relitigating guilt.
What if my case was resolved with an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal instead of a conviction?
An ACD or a plea to a non-criminal violation is not a conviction of a crime and does not, by itself, support a charge under §6530(9)(a), though OPMC may still pursue the underlying conduct under one of the other misconduct grounds in §6530.
Does OPMC find out about a conviction even if I do not report it?
Yes. Hospitals and other licensed facilities have independent reporting obligations that can bring a conviction to OPMC’s attention regardless of whether the physician discloses it.
For the full statutory list of misconduct grounds, see New York Education Law §6530.
Speak With Jordan Fensterman About an OPMC Referral Proceeding
A criminal conviction can place a physician’s license, hospital privileges, employment, and professional future at immediate risk. Jordan Fensterman represents New York physicians facing OPMC referral proceedings, summary suspension, professional misconduct charges, and hearings involving the appropriate disciplinary penalty.
