(a) Reviewers for a particular complaint shall be assigned from among those Dental Review Panel members who practice in the same or similar specialty as the Respondent identified in the filed complaint.
(b) If an assigned reviewer has a potential or apparent conflict of interest that would prevent the reviewer from providing a fair and unbiased opinion, that reviewer shall not review the case and another reviewer shall be assigned from among those Dental Review Panel members who practice in the same or similar specialty as the Respondent identified in the filed complaint.
  (1) A potential conflict of interest exists if the selected reviewer lives or practices dentistry or dental hygiene in the same geographical market as the Respondent identified in the filed complaint and:
    (A) is in direct competition with the licensee/registrant; or
    (B) knows the licensee/registrant.
  (2) An apparent conflict of interest exists if the reviewer:
    (A) has a direct financial interest or relationship with any matter, party, or witness that would give the appearance of a conflict of interest;
    (B) has a familial relationship within the third degree of affinity with any party or witness; or
    (C) determines that the reviewer has knowledge of information that has not been provided by board staff and that the reviewer cannot set aside that knowledge and fairly and impartially consider the matter based solely on the information provided by board staff.
(c) If no reviewer agrees to review the case who can qualify under the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, a reviewer who has a potential conflict may review the case, provided the expert reviewer's report discloses the nature of the potential conflict.
(d) If any assigned reviewer has a potential or apparent conflict of interest, the reviewer shall notify board staff in the Dental Practice Division of the potential or apparent conflict.

Source Note: The provisions of this §107.108 adopted to be effective September 6, 2016, 41 TexReg 6694