2022-074 - Laserfiche WebLink

OF Lolj STATE OF LOUISIANA 4� 01 ! DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE/, r x LOUISIANA BOARD OF ETHICS P.0. BOX 4368 BATON ROUGE, LA 70821 °otiipEN (225)219-5600 «�» ' FAX:(225)381-7271 1-800-842-6630 www.ethics.1a.gov Tuesday,April 12, 2022 Louis Trachtman, MD, MPH 79 Versailles Boulevard New Orleans, Louisiana 70125-3550 RE: Louisiana Board of Ethics Docket No. 2022-074 Advisory Opinion Dear Dr.Trachtman: The Louisiana Board of Ethics ("Board"), at its April 8, 2022 meeting, considered your request for an advisory opinion as to whether the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics ("Code") would prohibit you from accepting an e-Gift certificate from the Preventive Medicine residency program, while you are a part-time employee of the Tuberculosis Control Program (`TCP") of the Louisiana Office of Public Health ("OPH"). FACTS PROVIDED You are a part-time employee of the TCP, where you work sixteen(16) hours per week as Medical Director. The TCP is a program within the OPH (an office of the Louisiana Department of Health). The mission of the TCP is to protect the health of the people of Louisiana by reducing tuberculosis- related morbidity and mortality in all areas of the state. The Tuberculosis Control Program strives to reduce tuberculosis morbidity and mortality by using patient-centered, evidence-based practices for prevention, detection, treatment, and education (for patients, workplace settings, healthcare workers, and the general public). For most of your medical career, you served, voluntarily, on advisory committees of the Preventive Medicine residency program of the Tulare University School of Medicine. You gave up membership on those committees in 2021. As a gesture of thanks for your voluntary service, the head of the Preventive Medicine residency program sent you an e-Gift Certificate for Chewy.com for $150. This gift could be used to purchase items online for your pet dogs. The e-Gift Certificate was given to you to acknowledge your longtime member on the Advisory Committee to the Tulane Preventative Medicine residency program. Your agency,the TCP, does not have a contractual relationship with the Tulane School of Medicine. LAW La.R.S.42:1102(2)(a)(i)defines"agency"to mean a department,office,division,agency,commission, board,committee,or other organizational unit of a governmental entity. "Agency of the public servant" and"his agency"when used in reference to the agency of a public servant shall mean for public servants in the twenty principal departments of the executive branch of state government, the office in which AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER