Like most healthcare providers, you, as a chiropractor, are held to high professional standards. The state recognizes that the practice can be hazardous to the public when conducted by incompetent or unsafe practitioners. Therefore, the law requires the relevant licensing board to impose disciplinary action when you engage in a negligent act, commit professional misconduct, or are convicted of criminal conduct. Los Angeles License Attorney understands that your profession is your livelihood and you depend on it to practice. We can examine your case to develop a strong, comprehensive defense strategy. We can also handle your communications with the board and ensure your career is protected.
Who is an Experienced Chiropractor
A chiropractor is a medical expert who specializes in the neuromusculoskeletal system, including ligaments, tendons, muscles, bones, and nerves. They help manage neck and back pain by using spinal adjustments to maintain proper alignment.
They focus on the human body’s capability to heal itself and include other treatments, including exercise and nutrition.
By boosting the neuromusculoskeletal system’s capability to perform, you believe the advantages of realigning joints and spinal adjustments boost the functioning of different body systems.
You examine patients, focusing on their muscle reflexes and spinal position. You will also conduct tests to diagnose your patients’ conditions, develop their treatment plans, and monitor their progress.
You do not prescribe medication. Instead, you depend on and help the body’s capacity to heal itself. Your main therapy is spinal manipulation, in which you use instruments or your hands to apply force to a joint in your patient’s spine, moving it in a given direction to improve alignment.
You can also perform treatments that include the following:
- Adjustments
- Soft tissue therapy
- Relaxation techniques
- Kinesio taping
- Weight loss counseling
- Exercise
The Board of Chiropractic Examiners
The board is mandated to safeguard clients of chiropractic services from harmful licensees. To fulfill its mandate, the board has adopted guidelines for disciplinary orders and probation conditions for violations of the state’s Code of Regulations and the Chiropractic Act.
Here are categories of offenses that could trigger your professional license disciplinary proceedings:
Minor Offenses
These are violations that lead to insignificant harm to clients. They include the following:
- Making minor adjustments to the patient’s skeletal bones and causing temporary discomfort
- Failing to provide your patients with their treatment records
- Failing to update details about your address
- Failing to display your professional license appropriately
While these minor offenses might not result in severe disciplinary actions, anyone can bring a complaint against you. Depending on the facts of your case, the board could impose probation.
Severe Offenses
These are crimes that demonstrate your disregard for patients. They are as follows:
- Engaging in fraudulent conduct
- Failing to comply with the request to appear at an administrative hearing for another offense
- Sharing your patients’ critical details without consent
If you have allegations of a serious offense, you risk facing immediate investigation.
More Severe Offenses
These are violations that lead to substantial harm to your patients, including the following:
- Alcohol and substance abuse
- Being in a romantic relationship with your patient
- Gross negligence that causes an injury
- Refusing to release your patients to seek conventional medical attention when your practice has failed
- Committing a crime of moral turpitude
- Practicing out of your expertise and jurisdiction
Most Severe Offenses
These crimes lead to the most severe consequences and typically result in professional license revocation. They differ from more severe crimes in that they encompass more egregious cases.
Your professional license defense attorney can aid you in challenging your allegations, irrespective of the category of your crime and case details.
Reasons You Might Require Tenacious Legal Representation When Applying for Your Professional License
Without a current and valid professional license, you cannot practice chiropractic legally. However, for some applicants, it can be cumbersome, and they require competent professional assistance. They include the following:
You Have a Previous Criminal Record
Your prior criminal record can make your application exceptionally challenging, regardless of your good work history and completed education. It is because the board will thoroughly review your criminal history to determine whether it can raise questions about your fitness and character to practice safety and effectively.
Your defense attorney can help in the following ways:
- Assess your criminal record to understand its impact on your application
- Prepare a robust application — Your lawyer can assist you in disclosing your criminal record accurately and honestly as the licensing board requires. They can draft a comprehensive explanation of the case facts, outline evidence of your rehabilitation, and highlight your dedication to ethical standards and good conduct.
- Your attorney can mitigate the effects of the criminal record on your career by demonstrating to the board your professionalism, readiness, and qualifications to serve your patients.
- The board can request more details, schedule a hearing, or ask you to attend an interview to review your application. Your defense lawyer can represent you and address your board’s concerns and questions to safeguard your capability to practice.
You Have Previously Suffered from Drug and Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol and drug addiction have many life-altering consequences. To ensure patients receive the best possible care, the board requires applicants to reveal their current and former addictions.
If you were previously dependent on alcohol or drugs to the extent that you got into legal trouble, you should report this on the application. It holds if you underwent rehabilitation at some point.
Your defense lawyer can assist you in determining whether your addiction requires reporting and how you should accurately reveal it to your licensing agency
Stages of the Disciplinary Actions
Here is what to expect if you have a professional misconduct allegation against you:
Initial Actions
Typically, the professional disciplinary process starts after your licensing board receives a complaint against you. Any person, including your patients, insurance providers, employer, ad colleagues can file a complaint with the board.
The board will conduct the investigations. It can entail interviewing you and reviewing your records.
If the investigators have contacted you for an interview, you should retain a proficient license defense attorney before your interview. You might believe that you are innocent, only to self-incriminate yourself. Your lawyer will analyze your allegations and assist you in preparing for your interview.
If your board’s investigators determine that your complaint is meritless, the board will close the case without you facing disciplinary measures. The investigation process is not a public record. However, if the investigators decide the complaint against you has merit, the licensing board will send you an accusation.
If you are prosecuted for a criminal offense, you should consider hiring a professional chiropractic license defense legal counsel. You should not depend on a criminal defense counsel who is not well acquainted with the professional licensing law. Most defense attorneys do not understand the consequences of taking a plea bargain on their profession. Pleading guilty or no contest can later negatively affect your professional license.
Receiving a Formal Accusation
The accusation is a document that outlines the allegation(s) against you and the code of regulation you have broken.
After receiving the accusation, you can either challenge it or submit to it. You have fifteen days to file your notice of defense from the date the board served you with the formal accusation.
After receiving your notice of defense, your licensing board will request your discovery and provide its own discovery. The agency’s discovery will disclose proof against you and could be the initial point for building your defense. Your defense could consist of evidence that disputes your allegation or mitigating proof tailored to persuade the agency to impose the least serious disciplinary measure.
Stipulated Agreement and Administrative Hearing
Although the licensing agency will schedule an administrative hearing, most cases are resolved after negotiations between the defense attorney and the licensing board. The stipulated settlement often leads to the best possible case outcomes. Your attorney should be able to analyze your options and handle communication with the board. Reaching a settlement is preferable if you have mitigating proof and are ready to accept administrative sanctions.
However, if you want a hearing or your board is hesitant to negotiate, the matter will proceed to an administrative hearing presided over by an administrative law judge. Please note that the hearing differs from a criminal hearing, and most due process rights afforded to accused individuals will not apply.
During your hearing, your lawyer and the board will present their arguments and evidence. After listening to both parties, the ALJ will issue their ruling within thirty days. The licensing board can adapt, reject, or modify the recommendation.
Some of the common disciplinary measures include the following:
- Private and public reprimand
- Written warnings that might not constitute disciplinary measure
- Probation
- License revocation
- License suspension
- Interim suspension
- Citation and fines
If the board imposed probation, you should meet the following terms and conditions:
- You should comply with the laws
- Your shoud quarterly reports per penalty of perjury documenting whether you have been following your probation terms
- You should attend board interviews at numerous intervals and with reasonable notice
- You should provide proof of your continuing education
- You should not supervise a chiropractic intern engaging in a preceptor program
When determining the disciplinary action to impose, the board considers the following factors:
- Potential or actual harm to the public or a client
- Previous disciplinary record, including your degree of adherence to disciplinary orders
- Previous warning of record
- Severity and nature of the alleged professional misconduct
- Rehabilitation evidence
- Mitigation evidence
- Whether you followed the conditions of your criminal sentence
- Your overall criminal record
- The time that has elapsed since your misconduct
- Whether you have benefited financially from the professional misconduct
- Whether your behavior was negligent or deliberate, showed incompetence or whether another person is holding you liable for the conduct
How to Petition for a Professional License Reinstatement
The procedure of reinstatement involves the following:
Prior to filing your reinstatement petition, you should check whether you qualify by ensuring you have:
- Your suspension is complete — You are only eligible for reinstatement once you complete probation.
- You must not be serving any criminal sentence — You cannot petition the board for reinstatement while serving probation or a criminal sentence.
Ingredients to reinstate are the most crucial consideration. You should demonstrate sufficient rehabilitation via personal development and passage of enough time without further incident, proven by proof of attitude that warrants a second chance, demeanor, and proof of professional competence and knowledge.
A common concern among most chiropractors regarding your license reinstatement is whether they can fight the prior or underlying violation that triggered the revocation. The answer is you cannot. Regardless of the circumstances that led to your professional license revocation, the imposed disciplinary action cannot be overturned or impeached. You can only fight it by presenting proof of personal improvement and readiness to resume your practice without endangering the general public. If there are issues from your previous disciplinary measure to be deliberated in your reinstatement hearings, you should ensure you have a skilled lawyer. A legal counsel will strategically calculate the matter to ensure you realize the most favorable case outcome.
One thing you should understand is that your professional license reinstatement could be a cumulative process, with failures along the way. Ideally, the board should reinstate your professional license on your first attempt; sometimes, many attempts may be necessary, building towards your success on each one. A crucial factor for success is that adequate time has passed since the board revoked your license, to demonstrate the longevity and permanence of positive conduct, lifestyle, or variations in personal judgment.
The help of your proficient license defense attorney can play a significant role in your petition for reinstatement. Your attorney has the experience and objectivity to know the appropriate evidence to get the license reissued.
Find Competent Legal Assistance Near Me
If you practice chiropractic, you depend on your professional license to practice. That means facing disciplinary action can adversely affect your career, imperiling your livelihood. Defending your professional license requires a thorough approach designed to protect your career, livelihood, and reputation.
At Los Angeles License Attorney, we can start by understanding your allegations and the relevant state regulations, and then develop the most favorable defense. We can negotiate with the board, represent you at the administrative hearing, and gather and review evidence. Through these strategies, we aim to ensure you achieve the most favorable case outcome. Please call us at 424-554-1140 to schedule your initial consultation.
