Teladoc, Inc. v. Texas Medical Board and Nancy Leshikar, in Her Official Capacity as General Counsel of the Texas Medical Board

OPINION

Bob Pemberton, Justice

We again confront the recurrent question of whether an “informal” written agency pronouncement regarding law or policy constitutes a “rule” as the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) 1 defines that term. 2 In this case, a professional regulatory agency sent a letter to the primary statewide association representing the regulated population warning that certain practices violated agency rules and would lead to disciplinary action. The agency’s, pronouncement went beyond a mere restatement of its existing formally promulgated rules or underlying statutes. We have…