Reynaldo “Rey” Gonzalez, Jr. graduated from the Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados in 2008, but he says God led him to study law.
So Gonzalez graduated from the University of Dayton School of Law two years later and earned his law license, but never sought a medical license. Still, when the South Texas Republican ran in the 34th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020 — ultimately losing to a Democrat — he called himself a physician and attorney, according to court records.
“For those who want to relate to the candidate, I am a physician,” said the qualifications section of Gonzalez’s voter guide. “Like most doctors, I care about people. I listen. I act decisively in the best interest of my patients.”
It was statements like these that led the Texas Medical Board to issue a cease-and-desist in 2021 ordering Gonzalez to stop “holding himself out” to be a licensed doctor — and the Texas Supreme Court is now weighing the validity of Gonzalez's lawsuit against the board for allegedly trying to regulate his protected political speech.
“What Rey Gonzalez wants is to be able to talk to voters about how his credentials support his public policy without a state agency telling him exactly how he's got to go about doing it,” his attorney Roger Hughes told justices.
Rance Craft with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, representing the board, said the solution for Gonzalez is to simply clarify his educational background when he publicly claims he’s a physician, as the Healing Arts Identification Act requires.
“I know it's political speech, but the answer is more speech, and that's what the statute requires,” Craft said.
While oral arguments Wednesday mostly hinged on procedural requirements for Gonzalez’s lawsuit, a core question is how far the Texas Medical Board can go in dictating who can call themselves a doctor. KERA News reached out to Gonzalez and the board for comment.
The Texas Medical Board investigated Gonzalez after receiving a complaint alleging he was practicing medicine and falsely claiming to be licensed. After a hearing, the board found Gonzalez violated the Medical Practice Act and HAIA by misrepresenting himself as a doctor and warned of thousands of dollars in fines if he violated the order further.
That led Gonzalez to sue, alleging the board overstepped its authority and is trying to regulate his political speech when he says he didn’t claim he was practicing medicine.
Gonzalez is primarily challenging a Travis County district court’s ruling that dismissed his lawsuit because he didn't file it by the deadline required by the Administrative Procedure Act, which an appeals court upheld. He argues he’s subject to a different deadline under the agency’s own rules, and the lawsuit was timely.
Gonzalez wants to prevent the board from sanctioning him for his speech if he runs for office again.
The Medical Practice Act allows the board to issue cease-and-desist orders prohibiting non-licensed people from violating laws relating to the practice of medicine. But justices wondered whether that prohibits too many people — like those with PhDs — from using the “Dr.” title, even if they’re not giving medical advice.
“A lot of college professors or people with PhDs refer to themselves as doctor without signifying where they obtained their doctorate,” said Justice Jane Bland.
Gonzalez is challenging the constitutionality of the law that would require him to explain his educational background when he says he's a doctor. The lower court of appeals is allowing that specific part of the case to move forward when it returns to the trial court. What Texas Supreme Court justices will ultimately decide is whether Gonzalez’s lawsuit came too late to proceed further.
Toluwani Osibamowo is KERA’s law and justice reporter. Got a tip? Email Toluwani at tosibamowo@kera.org. You can follow Toluwani on X @tosibamowo.
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