The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld a California statute that authorizes the Medical Board of California (MBC) to regulate physicians’ use of the term “board certified” for advertising purposes.

Due to concern that the term “board certified” was being misused, CMA actively participated in the development of Senate Bill 2036 in 1990. The law allows three methods for physicians to gain approval to advertise as board certified: become a diplomat of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS); graduate from a postgraduate program approved by the American College of Graduate Medical Education or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada; or become a diplomat of a board that is judged equivalent in standards to an ABMS board.

The American Academy of Pain Management challenged the law in federal court after MBC refused to allow academy members to advertise “board certification.” Even though the academy failed to meet the MBC’s standards, it argued that the law violates the First Amendment right to free speech.

CMA filed an amicus brief with both the U.S. District Court and Ninth Circuit, urging the law be upheld. “There was and is a real and palpable problem with widely varying standards being employed in the development of medical specialty boards,” wrote CMA attorneys in the brief. “[Without this regulation], the public will be unable to tell that some physicians passed rigorous exams while others simply paid a fee to become ‘board certified.’”

For more information, including a copy of the court’s ruling, click here.