- A Wake County family nurse practitioner has filed suit to challenge a North Carolina law requiring her to contract with a physician before she can work in the state.
- Jamie Gallagher filed suit Wednesday in Wake County Superior Court against leaders of the state medical and nursing boards.
- Gallagher alleges that the required “collaborative practice agreement” with a doctor violates fundamental state constitutional rights.
A Wake County family nurse practitioner is challenging a North Carolina law that requires her to contract with a physician before she can work in the state. She filed suit Wednesday against leaders of the state medical and nursing boards.
“North Carolina requires Plaintiff Jamie Gallagher, … an extensively trained, highly qualified, and nationally certified nurse practitioner to obtain permission from a private physician for the right to practice in the field for which she has trained,” wrote Gallagher’s lawyers. “Dr. Gallagher cannot diagnose, prescribe, or treat her patients without that permission, even though these are the very acts the State requires nurse practitioners to be trained in and qualified to perform.”
“Dr. Gallagher has spent more than 17 years caring for patients as a nurse practitioner — yet the State requires her to enter into a mandatory contract, known as a ‘Collaborative Practice Agreement,’ with a physician — any physician,” Gallagher’s complaint continued. “There is no expectation that the physician practices in Dr. Gallagher’s field or even demonstrates any knowledge in the field.”…