Acupuncture medicine is gaining popularity nationwide as many physicians and doctors are recommending it to complement modern medical techniques. Because of the prevalence of this form of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the role of an acupuncturist in the healthcare profession has become crucial. However, the practice’s popularity has attracted more scrutiny, making acupuncturists targets of complaints.
If a complaint has been issued against you, you must take it seriously because your licenses and career are on the line. At San Jose License Attorney, we can defend your license and source of income against all forms of allegations, including formal allegations. Our attorneys understand the statutes and procedures involved in the disciplinary process, making us the most suitable to defend your license from a suspension or revocation.
Duties of an Acupuncturist
Acupuncture is a TCM practice that originated in China over 3,000 years ago. It is based on a belief that the body has vital energy called qi that circulates throughout the body. When the energy flow is disrupted, one develops various conditions, such as arthritis, hypertension, anxiety, infertility, insomnia, migraines, sinus congestion, and skin disorders. Today, many health practitioners are recommending acupuncture to their patients to restore energy flow and balance in the body, helping alleviate various symptoms of disease. However, these health practitioners only refer their patients to licensed acupuncturists.
As an acupuncturist, your role is to evaluate patients to identify the underlying health problem causing their symptoms and to develop a treatment plan that helps alleviate them. You treat various physical and psychological issues using a range of acupuncture techniques, including dry needling, cupping, electro-acupuncture, hand therapy, moxibustion, and articular acupuncture, to achieve desired results.
By providing quality acupuncture services, your patients enjoy several benefits, including:
- Reduced pain
- Decreased muscle tension
- Improved immune function
- Increased vitality
- Quick healing
- Improved emotional health
- Restored hormonal balance
- Enhanced sleep quality
Despite offering these crucial services, treatment can be complicated by infections, emotional release, bruising, bleeding, pain, fatigue, and dizziness. It means not all your patients benefit from the procedure, which can trigger an aggrieved patient to accuse you of incompetence, negligence, or professional misconduct, jeopardizing your acupuncture license.
The role of a modern acupuncturist is complex and highly scrutinized, making it easy to face accusations or complaints. If you are under investigation or face a formal accusation from the California Acupuncture Board (CAB), you must act fast to protect your livelihood and profession.
Even with your training and licensing, you can make honest mistakes in your practice that lead to a complaint. Additionally, unsatisfied clients can lodge exaggerated or false accusations against you, putting your license at risk. If you are in this situation, you need a license defense attorney who understands the complexity of your role and the hard work it has taken to earn your license. Such an attorney will guide you through every step of the disciplinary process for a favorable verdict.
About the California Acupuncture Board
The CAB issues licenses and regulates acupuncturists in California but operates under the state Department of Consumer Affairs. The mission of CAB is to safeguard the public from substandard or unsafe acupuncture practice. As acupuncture gains popularity, the board has tightened regulations, leading to stricter licensure requirements and disciplinary measures.
To obtain an acupuncture license from CAB, you must:
- Finish an approved acupuncture training course
- Pass the California Acupuncture Licensing Examination
The regulatory authority evaluates all applications and ensures that applicants meet these standards before issuing licenses.
The struggle does not end when you obtain the license. CAB requires all acupuncturists to complete continuing education programs to stay up to date on the latest acupuncture techniques and research on treatment and other fields of medicine. To ensure acupuncturists remain knowledgeable and skilled, the regulatory agency requires several continuing education programs to be completed every two months; failure to meet these standards could result in denied license renewal or disciplinary action.
Even though the CAB regulates your practice, it is not on your side. It serves public interests and protects patients from incompetent and unprofessional acupuncturists. The board monitors your conduct and receives complaints from patients, colleagues, and the public. When it receives a complaint against you, even if it investigates to establish the facts, it will side with the complainant. If the board believes a false complaint and overlooks facts, you could end up with severe disciplinary measures. Therefore, take every accusation seriously and hire a competent attorney on your side to ensure that you have someone to fight for your rights and protect your interests, just like the board protects the interests of the public.
Common Accusations Against Acuouncturists
With the CAB regularly monitoring acupuncturists to ensure safety and stability in the healthcare industry, the risk of license suspension or revocation has never been higher. Even the slightest violation can threaten your livelihood and ability to practice. The common accusations you can face in the line of duty include:
- Alcohol or substance abuse, especially when attending to a patient
- Acquiring your acupuncture license through fraudulent means
- Engaging in false or improper advertising
- Disregarding proper infection control protocols can cause a patient to develop an infection
- Breach of the state Health Code
- Professional incompetence while administering treatment
- Forging or poorly keeping patients’ medical files
- Engaging in insurance fraud
- Allowing prostitution to take place in your acupuncture clinic
- Engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct with your patients
- Having a guilty verdict for a criminal violation with a substantial relationship to your roles, qualifications, or functions as an acupuncturist.
- Gross or ordinary negligence leading to complications
- Operating an acupuncture clinic and massage parlor under one license
If these accusations are confirmed, you risk severe disciplinary measures from the board. The most common punishments include:
- Letter of reprimand
- Payment of a fine
- License withdrawal or cancellation
- Probation, particularly if you have been convicted of a crime substantially relating to your responsibilities.
Some penalties, such as license cancellation, are severe because they prevent you from practicing indefinitely. Therefore, you must aggressively defend your license to avoid any disciplinary action that prevents you from practicing or dents your professional reputation. To do this, you will require a skilled attorney to submit exculpatory evidence and circumstances in mitigation to compel the ALJ or CAB to impose a dismissal of the case or impose lenient penalties that do not prevent you from doing what you love doing.
The Complaint Process
The CAB receives several complaints or accusations of professional misconduct. Nevertheless, most of them usually end up being rejected by the board on account of their lack of validity or credibility. After this, the complaints are sorted by priority, giving priority to the most serious ones.
The next actions are as follows:
- Preliminary Investigation:
Your disciplinary procedure begins from here, where you receive a preliminary investigation notice from CAB informing you about some allegations against you regarding your violation of the California Health Code/CAB regulation. The CAB enforcement unit issues the notice, and you must file an answer within the provided timeline, giving your side of the story.
Contact your attorney immediately after receiving the notice to preserve the right to defend yourself. An attorney will file a response before the deadline and provide the board with the information it needs, without incriminating you.
- Formal Inquiry
After receiving your response, the board may dismiss the complaint or commence an official inquiry. When investigations start, you will receive an official investigation notice, stating the name and contact details of the investigator assigned to the case. The letter will demand a detailed explanation of the accusations against you. Additionally, you must complete the provided questionnaire and attach relevant medical records.
You have several weeks to complete the paperwork and provide all required information and records to aid the investigations. Your attorney should help you with the paperwork to ensure that you do not make errors that could attract additional accusations of professional misconduct, fraud, or providing false details. Additionally, you must establish if the investigation triggered the mandatory reporting obligation to the parties you work with in the acupuncture business.
After you provide the investigators with all required information, they will determine whether a violation occurred based on the evidence. If there is insufficient proof to support the accusation, the board will dismiss the case and notify you of the same. If there is a violation, the board can schedule an informal settlement conference.
- Informal Settlement
If your informal settlement conference has been scheduled, you must travel to meet the regulatory agency’s representatives. If you cannot travel, your attorney can represent you in the negotiations. The meetings remain confidential, even though in some cases, complainants may give written statements or appear in person. However, they do not stay for the information exchange.
In this meeting, you will exchange information, ask the board questions, and discuss the accusations to settle. After the meeting, the board can dismiss the accusations, put the matter on hold pending further inquiry, seek an interim license suspension to bar you from practicing pending the case conclusion, refer the case to the Attorney General for a formal accusation, or resolve the matter through a stipulated settlement.
- Stipulated Settlement
A stipulated settlement or disciplinary order is an agreement between you, the CAB licensee, and the AG/CAB to resolve an accusation or a disciplinary charge without holding an administrative hearing. Before you can sign the contract, you, the acupuncturist, must voluntarily admit to the disciplinary charge against you and acknowledge the possible punishment for the violation.
Stipulated settlements are common not only because they save the board money that could have been directed to the administrative hearing, but also because they give you, the acupuncturist, the chance to negotiate the terms of the settlement. After negotiations and reaching favorable terms, the AG or board representative writes down the terms of the settlement, execution, return, and compliance. You need an experienced attorney to negotiate a settlement on your behalf on favorable terms.
Once you agree to the disciplinary order and sign it, it will be sent to the CAB for approval. You do not have to sign the order if you do not agree with the disciplinary terms. Also, if the board does not agree with the stipulated terms, it will reject the agreement. When this happens, the regulatory agency files a formal accusation and refers the case to the AG to initiate an administrative hearing.
- Interim License Suspension
If the board believes that allowing you to continue practicing pending the administrative hearing poses danger to the safety and health of your patients, they can suspend your license temporarily pending case conclusion. If the board pursues and secures the interim suspension, your attorney must challenge it and have the suspension lifted to allow you to continue practicing. Even if it is in the interest of the patients to prevent you from practicing, doing so before you are proven guilty will be unfair.
- The Administrative Hearing
If no stipulated settlement is reached, the case proceeds to the final stage, which is the administrative hearing. Here, you are notified of a formal accusation against you and are given fifteen days to respond. When you respond, the deputy AG schedules an administrative proceeding, presided over by an administrative law Judge (ALJ).
The proceeding begins with the discovery stage, during which the opposing parties exchange information. At this stage, parties may request information or medical costs. Even though you could be fined or incur costs at this stage, it is worth it, as your license is on the line.
During the hearing, the ALJ listens to testimony, evaluates the evidence and legal assertions submitted, and deliberates on the matter. After deliberations, the ALJ makes recommendations or proposes a decision to the board.
Upon receiving the proposed decision, CAB can vote to adopt the recommendations, making them final. If they vote against the recommendation, they must analyze the transcripts used by the ALJ to support the recommendation in order to reach a final decision. The decision can be to dismiss the complaint or impose disciplinary measures per the guidelines. If you are unsatisfied with the board’s decision, your attorney can file an appeal.
Find a Competent Acupuncture License Defense Attorney Near Me
The CAB is concerned with public safety and welfare. Therefore, when they send you an investigation or formal accusation notice, do not assume you can talk yourself out of trouble, even if your acupuncture services are important and in demand. Your license is on the line, and you need an experienced attorney to help you navigate the disciplinary process and reduce or avoid punishment.
At San Jose License Attorney, we will evaluate your allegations, gather evidence to support your defense, and defend you aggressively to ensure you retain your ability to practice acupuncture. Call us at (669) 330-4517 to discuss the details of your case.
