9 Investigates legal loophole protecting medical providers accused of misconduct

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The husband of a woman sexually assaulted by a nurse at a local hospital is pushing to close what he considers a loophole in the law that allows some medical providers accused of misconduct to move to other facilities while under investigation.

Channel 9 investigative reporter Karla Ray found out the man's push could force changes to rules in New York, after similar changes failed here in the 2016 Florida legislature.

It’s been more than 10 years since Ed Bowman’s wife, Clara Bowman, was a patient at Health Central Hospital in Ocoee, where investigators say then-R.N. Kevin Laing assaulted at least two women.

Eyewitness News typically doesn’t name sexual-assault victims, however, the proposed legislation is named after Clare Bowman and is available through open-records requests.

Laing was convicted in the second case, and sentenced to 15 years sex-offender probation.

Before he could be prosecuted, Laing was able to get a job at a different health care facility, where he was accused of misconduct again, Eyewitness News learned.

Though Florida law requires health care practitioners to report allegations of sexual misconduct to the Department of Health, there is no timeframe in which they are required to do so.

Department of Health investigations aren’t public until 10 days after probable cause is found, meaning some providers are able to keep working long after they’re accused.

“Not one change,” Bowman said outside of the Orange County courthouse, as Laing faced a judge for a probation violation.

A 2016 Florida bill would have forced allegations of misconduct to be reported to the Department of Health within 30 days, but the legislation died. There is no similar legislation being proposed this year.

However, after petitioning lawmakers in New York, where Bowman’s family lives, a similar bill is gaining traction. The legislation in New York is dubbed “Clara’s Law” in honor of Bowman’s late wife.

“I'm doing it for you, your children, grandchildren, everybody. Sooner or later, they're going to be in a hospital, you don't know if they're going to be in a hospital with a man like this one,” Bowman said.

Laing will spend the next month behind bars for his probation violation, after serving 696 days in jail waiting for his hearing.

Though Bowman’s wife died before she could see changes, the 73-year-old hopes the same won’t be true for him.

“I haven’t let up one little bit since any of this happened and I won't. I'll go to my grave trying to get this done,” Bowman said.

If the bill passes, the Department of Health can inform the surgeon general that a practitioner poses an immediate serious danger to the welfare of public health. The surgeon general then has the authority to immediately suspend or restrict the practitioner’s license until the prosecution has been completed.

Emergency suspension or restriction orders are not considered final agency action, but are imposed for serious violations relating to the commission of crimes, sexual misconduct, standard of care, or drug use, as well as for student loan defaults. However, this does not happen in every case.

Cox Media Group