California Chiropractors are required to complete a four-year Doctor of Chiropractic degree in addition to being licensed by the state board. It is a process which requires years of rigorous study, dedication, stress and ultimately a desire to truly help others and ease their suffering. Despite all this, it only takes a single misstep to be on the receiving end of an “Accusation,” or charging document, from the Board that seeks to revoke the license you’ve worked so very hard to attain.
Chiropractic care is considered to be a form of alternative medicine, and as such is strictly regulated within the state of California by a board that maintains rules and regulations that must be followed in order to lawfully practice with a professional chiropractic license.
Brown & Brown represents chiropractors throughout California from our home office in Torrance, CA. With our vast defense experience, we can help you protect your license and career.
California Board of Chiropractors Examiners Lawyers
Even the most diligent California chiropractor can become overwhelmed when work-related, or even non work-related, stress results in errors at work. It is crucial that you do NOT speak with investigators or the Attorney General who represents the Board, and immediately call the highly experienced attorneys at The Law Offices of Brown & Brown for a free consultation. If you are facing allegations of insurance fraud, questionable billing practices, or even face criminal charges, it is even more important that you contact our attorneys immediately—before you make statements which may be used against you and your chiropractor’s license. This cannot be overemphasized.
The State Board of Chiropractic Examiners is the entity that controls the issuance, discipline, and in severe cases, the revocation of chiropractic licenses within the state of California. If there is a report of misconduct, or any other legal issue that has the possibility of affecting your work ethic, you may face an informal or formal investigation, in additional to possibly receiving an administrative subpoena commanding you to appear before a Board investigator to discuss your case. It is crucial that you have counsel in these, and most other, investigative situations to best protect your license and career. Our managing attorney, Adam B. Brown, has deal with these situations hundreds of time and knows how to best protect you and your career. Do not feel obligated to respond directly to the Board’s investigator, the Attorney General or anyone else seeking a statement from you—call our attorneys immediately for a free consultation. We’re here to help you and will do so aggressively.
Some reasons you might be subject to investigation include:
- Suspected insurance fraud, including falsified services for billing (Medicare/Medi-Cal/TriCare, etc.)
- Poor or improper record keeping or deliberate changes
- Substance Abuse, including DUI’s
- Sexual or unethical misconduct
- Negligence and/or incompetence with client treatment and care
- Misleading Advertising
- Unlicensed practice
- Undisclosed criminal records
Disciplinary Actions by The Board of Chiropractic Examiners
If you are formally accused or notified that there will be an investigation, there will probably be disciplinary action soon to follow. It’s important to note that any violation of the Chiropractic Initiative Act, the California Business and Professionals Code, California Code of Regulations, Health & Safety Code, or other statewide or local business laws can put you and your license in jeopardy.
Not all violations are equal, so your case needs to be evaluated by our highly experienced attorneys on an individual basis. Some outcomes of chiropractic disciplinary cases can include license revocation, license suspension, issuance of an Interim Suspension Order (“ISO”), formal probation, a Letter of Reprimand, Citation and Fine, or in the best case scenario, a closure of the investigative file with no further action taken.
There are a number of factors that are taken into consideration when the board decides what level of action to pursue, and you will need an experienced license defense lawyer to help you navigate the intricacies of the road ahead. Call us today—we love defending licensees and protecting our clients’ careers.
Responding to an Accusation or other Inquiry by the Board
First and foremost, it is crucial to remember that you should not feel obligated to speak with any Board investigator (or any investigator from the Department of Consumer Affairs) without first consulting a licensing attorney from Brown & Brown. Being impulsive and trying to “help yourself by cooperating” almost always results in damage to your case. We cannot emphasize this enough and, over the many years we’ve been in business, our clients have thanked us countless times for warning them about this. A chiropractor who is unrepresented by counsel runs the risk of speaking directly with the Board, and though his or her intentions are most certainly good, he runs the serious risk of damaging his case by saying something that may very well harm his license.
A big advantage of hiring an attorney to represent you is to insulate yourself from doing harm to your case by talking. Your attorney knows how to protect you and your license, and aggressively goes about doing so. What you DON’T say to the Board is often as important as what you DO tell them.
A professional licensing attorney can also help alleviate your stress during the investigation, as you have someone who is concerned for you, will be there to answer your questions and will guide you through this traumatic process every step of the way.
Simply ignoring an accusation or investigation will almost always result in a very poor result, if not outright revocation. Your attorney is able to communicate with Board investigators, the Attorney General (the Board’s lawyers), criminal investigators or officers and others as your representative. Our clients frequently tell us they sleep much better knowing they will not have to directly discuss their case, thereby avoiding the very real danger of making inadvertent admissions or other unintentional harmful acts. After we make contact with the investigating agency on a client’s behalf, we always follow up with an immediate update to the client to advise of the outcome of that discussion.
Contact the Board of Chiropractic Examiners Lawyers at Brown & Brown For Help
The lawyers at Brown & Brown take immediate control of your case and handle all communications, negotiations and court appearances on your behalf. You simply return to your practice, feeling confident that your case is being carefully and skillfully handled by the highly experienced attorneys at Brown & Brown. Our attorneys have over 70 years combined experience and we can and will put that to work for you immediately.
Our main concern is alleviating your stress and worry while protecting your license and career. We have been successful in this regard in the vast majority of our cases and urge you to contact us today for a free initial consultation. Our attorneys are standing by to help you now.
Remember, do NOT feel obligated to talk to the Board. If you are facing an accusation or disciplinary action, call the highly skilled attorneys at The Law Offices of Brown & Brown at (310) 792-1315 for a free consultation to discuss your best options today.