§ 577. Enforcement. 1. A permit or certificate of qualification may be
revoked, suspended, limited or annulled, or the holder thereof censured,
reprimanded or otherwise disciplined by the department on proof that the
certificate holder, owner or director, or one or more persons in his or
her employ:

(a) has been guilty of misrepresentation in obtaining the permit or
certificate or in the operation of the clinical laboratory or blood
bank, including the submission to the department of proficiency test
results obtained from another clinical laboratory;

(b) has knowingly accepted or permitted to be accepted a specimen or
assignment for clinical laboratory examination from or rendered a report
thereon to a person or persons not authorized by law to submit such
assignment or specimen or receive such report;

(c) has engaged or attempted to engage or represented himself or
herself as entitled to perform any procedure or category or procedures
or services he or she is not authorized to perform;

(d) has rendered a report on work actually performed in another
clinical laboratory or blood bank without designating the fact that the
examination or procedure was performed in another clinical laboratory or
blood bank;

(e) has demonstrated incompetence or shown consistent errors in
performance of examinations or procedures;

(f) has failed to file any report required by the provisions of this
title or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder;

(g) has violated or aided and abetted in the violation of any
provision of this chapter, including this title, title six of this
article, or the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this
chapter or a violation of title eleven of article five of the social
services law or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder related
to laboratory services; or

(h) has violated or aided and abetted in the violation of local laws,
codes or regulations as specified in subdivision three of section five
hundred eighty of this title.

(i) has been found upon inspection by the department to be in
noncompliance with a provision or provisions of this title or the rules
and regulations promulgated hereunder, and has failed to address such
findings as required by the department.

2. Proceedings under this section may be initiated by any person,
corporation, association or public officer, or by the department, by
filing written charges with the department.

3. No permit or certificate shall be revoked, suspended, limited or
annulled without a hearing, except as provided in subdivision three of
section five hundred seventy-six of this title. However, a permit or
certificate may be temporarily suspended without a hearing for a period
not to exceed thirty days upon notice to the permit or certificate
holder following a finding by the department that the public health,
safety or welfare is in imminent danger.

4. The commissioner shall set a time and place for the hearing. A copy
of the charges, together with the notice of the time and place of the
hearing, shall be mailed to the permit or certificate holder, at the
address specified on the permit at least fifteen days before the date
set for the hearing. The permit or certificate holder shall file with
the department, not less than five days prior to the hearing, a written
answer to the charges.

5. Any person or entity which owns or operates a clinical laboratory
and who does not hold a valid laboratory permit shall be liable to the
people of the state for a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand
dollars for each day for the unauthorized operation of the clinical
laboratory.