Former Executive Director Files Lawsuit Against the California Public Utilities Commission

By: Madison Orcutt On December 4, 2020, the former executive director of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Alice Stebbins, filed a complaint against the Commission in the San Francisco Superior Court (Alice Stebbins v. California Public Utilities Commission, et Continue reading

Attorney General of California Files Lawsuit Against the U.S. Department of Education for Alleged Rollback of Federal Oversight of For-Profit Schools

By Madison Beck On January 15, 2021, in People of the State of California v. United States Department of Education, et al., Case No. 21-cv-00384 (N.D. Cal), Xavier Becerra, the Attorney General of California, filed a complaint on behalf of Continue reading

Ninth Circuit Court Sides with Board of Pharmacy’s Regulation and Licensure of Outsourcing Facilities Created Under Federal Law

By Anna Schwartz Fusion IV Pharm., Inc. v. Sodergren, 809 F. App’x 438 (9th Cir. 2020). On June 17, 2020, the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of judgment on the pleadings Continue reading

Dental Board of California Planned Implementation of AB 2138 Modified, Comment Period Extended

By Jonathan Greenbergs On May 18, 2020, the Dental Board of California (DBC) published modified text for regulations to implement AB 2138 (Chiu) (Chapter 995, Statutes of 2018), and on June 2, 2020, extended the public comment period from June Continue reading

Smile Direct Club Suit Against Dental Board of California, Alleging Antitrust Activity, Dismissed and Appealed to the Ninth Circuit

By Jonathan Greenbergs Jeffrey Sulitzer, D.M.D, et al. v. Joseph Tippins, et al., Case No. 2:19CV08902 (C.D. Cal.). Jeffrey Sultizer, owner of Smile Direct Club, a direct-to-consumer teledentistry company that provides teeth aligners to customers, brought legal action against the Continue reading

Dental Board of California Closely Watches Failed Bill to Regulate Mail-Order Teeth Alignment Companies

By Jonathan Greenbergs On August 8, 2020, AB 1998 (Low) failed to pass the Assembly Committee on Business, Professions, & Economic Development. As amended June 3, 2020, this bill would have amended sections 1680, 1683.1, and 1683.2 of, and added Continue reading

Dental Board of California Proposes Regulations to Implement AB 2138 (Chiu) to Establish Substantial Relationship Criteria for Criminal Convictions and Evaluating Rehabilitation of Applicants and Licensees

By Katie Abajian On February 18, 2020, the Dental Board of California (DBC) published notice of its intent to amend sections 1019 and 1020, Title 16, of the CCR, to specify criteria regarding criminal convictions and rehabilitation of licensees convicted Continue reading

San Francisco Superior Court Grants Summary Adjudication in Favor of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for Racial Discrimination Claim, but Denies Summary Judgment for Commissioner and Former President

By Michael J. Melton On February 20, 2020, after hearing oral arguments in the matter of Clopton v. Cal. Pub. Util. Comm’n, No. CGC-17-563082 (Cal. Super. Ct. San Francisco), Judge Ethan P. Schulman granted the CPUC’s Motion for Summary Adjudication Continue reading

Assemblymember Evan Low Introduces Legislation to Require Dentists to Conduct In-Person Examinations Before Approving Teleorthodontics Treatment

By Katie Abajian AB 1998 (Low), as introduced January 27, 2020, would amend section 1680 of the Business and Professions Code to make it unprofessional conduct for a dentist to diagnose and correct malpositions of human teeth or use orthodontic Continue reading

SmileDirectClub Sues Dental Board of California Staff and Members in Federal Court

By Katie Abajian On October 16, 2019, SmileDirectClub, and its owner, Jeffrey Sulitzer, D.M.D., a dentist licensed to practice in California, filed a complaint in the Central District of California against an investigator, the Executive Officer, and all individual Board Continue reading