If you practice chiropractic care in California, that only means you have worked hard to acquire the experience and education necessary to obtain your license. Your license is a fundamental part of your chiropractic professional life, as it has enabled you to establish a successful career and sustain that career. Additionally, thanks to your license, you meet your monetary obligations and, most importantly, take care of yourself and your loved ones.

However, one error you commit or any complaint against you may jeopardize your professional license, reputation, and future. Additionally, if a mistake happens or someone makes a complaint, the rules and regulations governing the chiropractor professional license disciplinary process are complex. The intricacy of these regulations could make it almost impossible for any layperson to succeed in defending their professional license and protecting their capability to fulfill their financial obligations.

If the BCE (Board of Chiropractic Examiners’) investigator has contacted you or an Accusation has been mailed to you, you want to take the necessary steps to safeguard your license, career, and future. At San Luis Obispo License Attorney, we boast the knowledge and expertise to protect professional licenses (including chiropractic licenses) against disciplinary action by respective boards. Regardless of the allegations you face, we will strive to defend your chiropractic career, reputation, and future. Call us for a complimentary consultation.

The Distinctive Roles of a Chiropractor

A chiropractor is a healthcare professional who specializes in manual adjustments to the spinal cord and other body parts to correct compromised systems.

Chiropractic practice is deemed a type of alternative medicine that deals with diagnosing, treating, and preventing various disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially the spinal cord. Chiropractors’ skills include using patients' medical records, performing examinations, and performing skilled observation. They utilize most similar diagnostic tools that medical doctors use, like MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and X-rays, to locate ill health problems.

Apart from manipulating the spinal cord and other body parts using the hands-on approach, chiropractors can also recommend treatment procedures, arrange for diagnostics, and counsel patients on sleeping habits, nutrition, stress management, and exercise. Compared to other medical practitioners, many chiropractors utilize a holistic approach to healing. When a chiropractor’s skills cannot solve all medical problems, they refer patients to appropriate medical practitioners when necessary for coordinated treatment.

The BCE Mission

As implied earlier, practicing chiropractic care in California necessitates extensive training and study, including a series of exams to become licensed and board-certified. The BCE regulates over fourteen thousand licensed chiropractors in California and licensure applicants. Its paramount duty is to safeguard consumers from negligent, incompetent, or fraudulent chiropractors.

Apart from protecting consumers, the board's other responsibilities include issuing licenses, implementing regulations, conducting investigations into complaints brought against chiropractors, and imposing disciplinary action if a professional has hurt the public's safety, health, or welfare. The board takes its duty to impose disciplinary action very seriously. A bigger percentage of the board's yearly budget goes toward enforcement actions.

The Board's Disciplinary Process

Whereas every state chiropractic board has its procedures and rules regarding the disciplinary procedure, most follow a similar basic pattern that involves complaint filing, investigations, consent decree, inquiry, formal administrative proceedings, and an appeal. However, the BCE will not utilize the “beyond any reasonable doubt” burden of proof for the accusations against you. Instead, it will use clear, convincing evidence, which means it is more likely the allegations are true. This burden of proof is lower than “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Complaint

The Board of Chiropractic Examiners initiates the disciplinary process whenever it receives an official complaint regarding a chiropractor. The complaint can originate from a government organization, a patient, or other healthcare professionals. The process may also commence if a chiropractic professional is found guilty of an offense. The board has jurisdiction to handle cases involving supposed Chiropractic Initiative Act violations, Business & Professions Code violations, and California Code of Regulations Sections related to chiropractic practice.

Investigation

When the board receives a complaint about you, it first reviews it to establish whether, if factual, it violates your professional responsibilities or standards. It will also review the complaint to establish whether it has jurisdiction to handle the allegations made. The board, for example, does not handle disputes involving personality-related conflicts, general business practices, billing, or fees, as it lacks jurisdiction over those.

If the board has jurisdiction, it will forward the complaint to its enforcement unit, which will conduct further investigations. Complaints involving accusations of gross negligence, incompetence, insurance fraud, and sexual misconduct are prioritized.

When the board decides to proceed with the investigations, it might inform you in writing about the complaint. In the meantime, a representative from the board's enforcement division will review the allegations in the complaint and any supporting material the complainant provided. The representative may then interview the complainant. In certain cases, the board's investigator might contact you to provide more information in writing and various documents. Based on the facts, the board investigators might need you to appear for an inquiry or interview to ask more questions.

Should the investigators find that the accusations in the complaint have no merit, they can drop the case at any investigation stage. However, if, after investigation, there is clear, convincing evidence supporting the accusations by the complainant, the board might choose to impose various disciplinary actions to deal with the case. The board might:

  • Issue an administrative fine of not more than five thousand U.S. dollars and a citation. A citation is considered a public record (accessible by possible employers and patients).
  • Issue an admonishment letter, which might or might not be accompanied by an order of abatement mandating you to take particular remedial actions.
  • Pursue an official accusation.

Formal Accusation

If the BCE decides to pursue an Accusation, it will send your case to the attorney general's office, and the deputy attorney general will file the Accusation. The board will then inform you of the Accusation filing, and you have 15 days to respond to it if you intend to defend your license. You respond by filing a Notice of Defense. Failure to do so will result in the board suspending your license by default.

If the board files an Accusation against you, it will almost certainly revoke or suspend your license. Generally, the BCE reserves Accusation filing for the most severe violations but emphasizes that license revocation is always on the table where bases for disciplinary action exist.

Once the board files the Accusation, the case will be set for an administrative hearing, presided over by an ALJ (administrative law judge) working for the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). The administrative hearing resembles a formal trial. As the accusing side, the board must prove the case against you with clear, convincing evidence. The board and your lawyer have the right to discover witness identities and documents either side has before the proceedings, and they will also be allowed to submit evidence supporting their positions during the hearing.

After the proceedings, the administrative law judge has thirty days to propose a decision. The decision is deemed proposed as it is non-binding to the board. The board can reject that decision entirely and replace it with its own. Or it can accept it in part or as a whole.

You can appeal the case if dissatisfied with the BCE’s decision. However, note that after appealing, the presiding court will just review the records from the administrative proceedings for mistakes committed in applying the relevant laws. It will not hear new evidence or review any factual evidence. You have a limited time after the administrative law judge's ruling to file an appeal.

Common Disciplinary Actions from the Board

The most severe disciplinary action you can be subject to after an administrative hearing includes:

  • License revocation: Revocation will bar you from continuing to practice as a chiropractor indefinitely; it is the most severe type of disciplinary action. You can request a license reinstatement after a certain period.
  • License suspension: Suspension will prevent you from practicing for a given period. Continuing chiropractic training and education.
  • License probation: This disciplinary action will limit your capability to practice your career and the medical procedures you can conduct, or you will practice under supervision for a probationary period. You will also be required to comply with other conditions, like counseling or alcohol or drug abuse treatment.
  • Private or public reprimand: This is a letter to warn you of your actions and against continuing or repeating the supposed crime. Whereas this letter is simply a warning, it, like other disciplinary actions, is publicized on the board's website so the general public can see.

Disciplinary Action If Criminally Liable for a Crime

The board will also move to discipline you if you have been found criminally liable for or pleaded guilty to a felony violation or any offense substantially related to the chiropractic practice. The courts and the board have given the word “substantially connected” a broad interpretation. The definition of what is and is not a substantially related offense is not governed by stringent guidelines and might vary based on the facts surrounding the conviction.

Even though most people argue that a DUI conviction should not be associated with chiropractic practice, the argument is often successfully made that a person with enough of an issue with drugs or alcohol that they would drive drunk or drugged might jeopardize a patient's well-being.

Any felony or misdemeanor that involves fraud, violence, dishonesty, or theft will also be sufficient to trigger a disciplinary proceeding by the board.

Before the board imposes any of the above disciplinary actions, it must consider various factors per its disciplinary guidelines, which help determine the kind of punishment to impose. These factors include the following:

  • Whether you did any actual harm to the public or a patient.
  • Whether harm may likely have resulted due to your violation.
  • Whether or not you are presently facing a single or various complaints.
  • Whether there are any past disciplinary actions on your professional record.
  • Evidence of you receiving rehab, for example, drug abuse or domestic violence.
  • The type and seriousness of your violation.
  • If you were convicted of a criminal offense in the past, and whether you adhered to the court-imposed probation conditions.
  • Whether you did benefit financially from your violation.
  • Whether you committed the violation accidentally or intentionally,
  • The degree of incompetence or negligence, if any, your violation indicated.

Common Allegations that Trigger BCE Investigations

Various activities could result in a complaint being filed against you. If you have lied on any paperwork you submitted to support your licensure, been found guilty of an offense substantially related to chiropractic practice, or acted in a way that falls under the classification of professional misconduct, it might be the foundation for a legal complaint.

Accusations of professional misconduct may depend on various actions. Common actions that constitute unprofessional conduct are:

  • Abuse of drugs or excessive drinking of alcohol.
  • Conducting chiropractic treatments or exams incompetently or negligently.
  • Practicing chiropractic care with no license or allowing a person under your supervision to conduct unlicensed chiropractic treatment.
  • Being found criminally liable for an offense substantially related to a chiropractor’s functions or duties.
  • Performing spinal cord manipulation instead of administering a vaccination.
  • Intentionally falsifying records or reporting misleading information.
  • Involvement in activities constituting sexual misconduct.
  • Inappropriately billing patients for chiropractic services advertised as free or discounted.
  • Patient overbilling.
  • Using deceptive, false, or misleading advertising.
  • Failing to safeguard confidential patient details or disclosing the patient details by you or a staff under your supervision without authorization.
  • Acting dishonestly or fraudulently, including committing Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance fraud and upcoding.
  • Active involvement in theft activities.
  • Physical or verbal abuse.
  • Acting outside the scope of your license or permitting other professionals in your facility to conduct care or procedures for which they are not licensed.
  • Failing to maintain accurate and adequate financial or patient records.

Find an Experienced Chiropractic License Defense Lawyer Near Me

The laws that govern chiropractic care are strict, and the board takes their enforcement seriously. If your license is revoked or suspended, you cannot lawfully practice chiropractic care and fulfill your financial obligations. You must act upon any contact made by the board immediately. One of the simplest ways to lose your professional license is to ignore an investigation by the board.

At San Luis Obispo License Attorney, we can give you the aggressive legal representation required to retain your chiropractic license and continue working. Do not hesitate to call us now at 805-465-2766 for a confidential, free consultation.