Unfortunately boards have sovereign immunity as they are government agencies. Some boards throughout the country are doing this more and more and it is a disturbing trend.
If the state agency issued a press release or spoke to the media making allegations against the doctor, those individuals lose immunity from civil damages since it is not part of their duties to speak to the media.
Former Senator Proxmire learned that lesson when he defamed a government employee with one of his Golden Fleece Awards.
Have you noticed that prosecutors always state that an accused is entitled to the assumption of innocence when they have a press conference announcing an indictment of an individual? The Proxmire decision is why.