Unlike humans, animals cannot speak for themselves, especially when they are sick, making diagnosis and treatment nuanced. It is the reason veterinarians undergo extensive training and a complex licensure process. Veterinary schools are few, and the requirements for entering the field are strict, making the journey to becoming a veterinarian difficult. Despite the competition and challenges you face to obtain a veterinary medicine license, your professionalism will constantly be questioned by unsatisfied animal owners. Because animals cannot speak for themselves, their owners believe they should, which can put your license at risk of disciplinary action by the California Veterinary Medical Board (VMB).
An honest mistake or complaint from an unsatisfied animal owner should not be career-ending. You can defend your license from all allegations to preserve your reputation and livelihood. However, you will require sufficient legal counsel to face VMB. At San Jose License Attorney, we can help you secure a fair verdict, including a case dismissal or lenient punishment.
The Role of a Veterinarian
Helping animals that cannot speak for themselves is indeed a noble profession. Being a licensed veterinarian, you are obliged to heal sick animals. To do this, you must appreciate the crucial role animals play in human life. Pets have become friends to human beings, and in some cases, they are considered family members. Others, such as dogs, provide security, while domestic animals like cows, goats, rabbits, and chickens provide food and livelihoods. Animals in zoos and national parks serve as tourist attractions, generating foreign revenue for the country. Recognizing and appreciating the pivotal roles animals play in human life is the first step in being compassionate about and obtaining the skills to help sick animals.
Obtaining the skills to provide veterinary services requires years of training, medical knowledge, and practical experience. Additionally, VMB has an expensive and lengthy licensure process to ensure only the best have the chance to join this noble profession. Once the board approves your skills and issues you a practicing permit, your role becomes offering animals, pets, and families protection by:
- Administering vaccinations to prevent diseases
- Treating various animal ailments
- Inspecting livestock
- Working as government food safety professionals
- Performing advanced animal surgery
- Conserving animal species on the verge of extinction
It takes a lot of money, training, practical experience, and time to obtain the VMB’s accreditation to help ailing animals. Unfortunately, even when you obtain the license and perform your roles with utmost professionalism, your expertise is always under scrutiny by your regulatory entity, animal owners, and the public. VMB expects you to maintain the highest possible standards and will not hesitate to initiate a disciplinary process whenever you are accused of a violation.
California VMB Functions
VMB’s primary mission is to safeguard animals and animal owners from unsafe or below-par veterinary medical services. The board achieves this mission by licensing only veterinarians whose skills they have tested and approved. Additionally, the regulatory agency scrutinizes licensees to ensure that those who face accusations or allegations of malpractice or professional misconduct are limited or restricted from service consumers. Also, they set industry safety and ethical standards, receive public complaints, investigate allegations, and impose disciplinary measures where necessary. Let us discuss these functions further.
Setting the Industry Codes of Standard and Performance Standards
Caring for ailing animals is not easy. It requires knowledge and years of practical experience. So, even after the board approves your skills by issuing you a permit, it has rules or guidelines that you should adhere to when performing your duties to prevent animal abuse and avoidable risks.
Veterinary medicine is a branch of medicine that raises the performance standards. When providing services, you must observe the highest performance standards to avoid negligence, gross negligence, or any action or inaction that could lead to a complaint, putting your permit at risk.
Codes of conduct or guidelines for veterinarians include preventing animal exploitation to safeguard animals from extended exposure to pain or harsh conditions.
Enforcing Rules and Regulations for All Licensees
Another role of the board is to enforce the Code of Conduct and professional standards it sets for its licensees to encourage compliance. Enforcing rules holds veterinarians consistently accountable, ensuring that the industry’s high standards are met in every case.
Enforcement entails random inspections by VMB inspectors, the requirement to submit performance reports regularly, conducting enforcement surveys, creating punitive measures to discourage rule violations, and imposing disciplinary measures.
Obtaining Complaints
When an animal owner or third party is aggrieved with your services, they can file a complaint with VMB. After receiving the complaint, the board reviews it to decide if it has merit or can be substantiated.
Assessing the complaints helps them drop complaints that lack merit and pursue those that are credible. The credible complaints are then categorized by priority, with the most urgent ones given top priority. The board receives complaints through its website, meaning claimants can lodge a claim immediately after an alleged violation.
Initiating Investigations
If an allegation can be substantiated, it is the role of the VMB to assign the case to investigators to determine the nature of the violation and whether the accusation is true or false. Investigators will visit your office or workplace to interview you and witnesses and to obtain medical records, surveillance footage, and any other relevant information that could help corroborate the alleged violation. Surveillance footage is required for allegations of animal cruelty, while medical reports and documentation are needed for fraud or malpractice.
Imposing Disciplinary Action on Those Found in Violation of VMB Guidelines
After the VMB’s inquiry concludes, the board can take several actions. They could drop the case if there is insufficient proof or no proof of a violation. Conversely, they can restrict your permit or place your license on probation if it is determined that the accusations against you are true. Probation allows you to practice under supervision in an effort to rehabilitate.
Examples of Accusations VMB Receives
While you strive to offer exceptional veterinary services, an accusation from a coworker or aggrieved animal owner can threaten your career and income. Because your expertise is under constant scrutiny, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the common allegations veterinarians face. Understanding these accusations can help you better prepare for the investigations and administrative hearing. Examples of violations against veterinary medicine licensees include:
- Causing an animal or another human being
- Applying unlawful billing strategies in your practice
- Failure to maintain proper patient records
- Enlisting the services of unlicensed veterinary technicians or assistants
- Breach of the health code
- Falsifying medical reports
- Offering veterinary services without a valid license
- Fraudulently acquiring a license
- Going outside of your competence scope when offering services
- Engaging in fraudulent activities, including insurance fraud
- Appearing for work while impaired by alcohol or controlled substances
- Having a criminal conviction that impairs your competence or capacity to provide services
- Improper anesthesia use or drug prescription
If any of these accusations can be substantiated, you will be notified of a pending investigation and administrative hearing. Before the administrative proceeding, the VMB will gather evidence of the violation.
An investigation notice does not mean your case is hopeless. If you hire an attorney immediately after you learn of a pending investigation, you have an opportunity to have the case dismissed or negotiate a favorable settlement that does not involve the loss of practicing capacity. If a dismissal or settlement is not possible, the attorney will assess the strengths and weaknesses of the VMB’s case to craft arguments that can be utilized to secure a fair outcome in the administrative hearing. The role of your legal counsel in the case is to secure a case dismissal or lenient disciplinary action that does not hinder your ability to offer veterinary services.
The Administrative Proceeding
When an accusation can be substantiated and well supported by evidence, the VMB forwards a formal accusation and the file to the Office of the Attorney General, which arranges an administrative hearing presided over by an administrative law judge (ALJ). The objective of the hearing is to discuss the alleged violation and examine evidence from both sides to reach a verdict and, if necessary, recommend disciplinary action.
When you receive a formal accusation and a statement of issues, you must submit a response within the provided timeline for scheduling an administrative proceeding. If you do not file a response, the ALJ will issue a default ruling and suggest the appropriate disciplinary action, contingent on the violation type.
If you file a response on time, you will be notified of a hearing date. Your attorney should adequately prepare for the proceeding and collect sufficient proof for a case dismissal or lenient punitive measures that enable you to keep making a living through your permit.
In the hearing, VMB will present the proof and witness statements against you. Also, the ALJ will give you a chance to submit your proof and present the witness testimony in your favor. Additionally, your attorney can submit circumstances in mitigation, such as proof of good character and an excellent performance record, which can compel the ALJ to recommend a favorable punishment.
The ALJ’s Recommendations
After the hearing, the ALJ will make several recommendations to the board in accordance with the VMB’s guidelines. The possible punishment includes:
- A Reprimand Letter
A common punitive measure the board can impose for a minor allegation is a reprimand letter, which warns you that repeating the behavior will attract severe punishment. The purpose of the letter is to warn you of future violations.
- A Citation
If your violation does not result in a revocation or suspension, the board can issue you a citation detailing the regulation you are accused of violating. If made public, a citation can harm your reputation because it lets the public know of your incompetence or unprofessional conduct. Most clients will dissociate from you when they encounter the citation, making it crucial to keep it private. Your attorney can present arguments to compel the board to keep it private to protect your reputation.
- License Suspension of Withdrawal
A license suspension is imposed if the professional misconduct accusations against you are substantiated. The permit withdrawal is usually for a specified duration, which could be weeks, months, or years. During this period, you cannot practice and must look for an alternative source of income. After the suspension period has expired, you must apply for reinstatement, which is also challenging.
- License Cancelation or Revocation
A revocation prevents you from practicing veterinary medicine indefinitely. The ALJ makes this recommendation when it is proven that your actions or inaction put the animal or another human at risk of severe injury or death.
Do not let a revocation end your veterinary medical career permanently. Your attorney can present mitigating circumstances to convince the board to impose a stay on the revocation and instead allow you to practice under probation for a given period. Probation is better than a revocation because you continue to practice even though under supervision.
Consequences of Malpractice Accusations
Where medical malpractice is involved, VMB places your license under interim suspension to protect animals from harm pending investigation. If an interim suspension is issued, you stop practicing for the investigation period. The suspension can severely hurt your career because you cannot practice until the case is complete, which is unfair, especially if you are innocent. However, your attorney can intervene and convince the court to lift the ban to enable you to offer services, pending the hearing. With the lift on the ban, you will not suffer significant financial losses, especially when the case drags on for years, because you still have your license.
Find a Competent Veterinarian Permit Defense Attorney Near Me
It takes hard work, time, resources, and dedication to break into a career in veterinary medicine. The role requires compassion and a love of animals to understand their needs, as they cannot speak. Despite your compassion and high-standard performance, the constant scrutiny of your expertise can lead to accusations, threatening your license.
At San Jose License Attorney, we can guide and defend you if you face an allegation or are under investigation by the board for a fair verdict. Call us at 669-330-4517 to understand your complaint and find answers to some of your questions.
