Section 451D-4 - Advisory committees(a) The director of commerce and consumer affairs may establish advisory committees, the members of which shall serve as consultants to the boards in their review of health care professionals referred for possible disciplinary action and as experts to the department for investigations. The advisory committee shall be appointed by the director from a list of health care professionals submitted annually by the board for which an advisory committee is appointed. The director shall develop an information sheet for each member describing the committee's purpose, roles and responsibilities of members, and procedures used to carry out the committee's work. When the board or director requests assistance from any member of the committee on a case, the board or director, as the case may be, shall make initial inquiries as may be necessary for the purpose of eliminating conflicts of interest prior to submission to any member of the committee.
(b) The membership of the advisory committee shall reflect, insofar as is practical, all areas of professional practice and include subgroupings of the major specialties. Each member of the committee shall serve until a new committee is established, or until the particular case for which the member was designated a consultant or expert has been concluded.(c) All members of the advisory committee shall serve voluntarily and without compensation, but shall be paid reasonable allowances for travel and living expenses which may be incurred as a result of performance of their duties on the committee. The costs shall be paid by the department.(d) There shall be no civil liability for any member of the advisory committee for any act done in furtherance of the purpose for which the advisory committee was established.