As a licensed osteopathic practitioner, you have undoubtedly worked hard and invested significant time and resources to be where you are today. Unfortunately, the government can take all this away, affecting your career and source of livelihood for you and your loved ones. As a medical practitioner, you must follow and abide by the regulations of the Medical Practice Act (MPA) and the board.
Failure to do so could put your hard-earned license in jeopardy. That could happen through the federal government, state government, or licensing board, resulting in a license revocation, suspension, or any other suitable disciplinary action. Whatever the alleged violation's reason or cause, you deserve vigorous legal representation.
At Fresno License Attorney, we can protect you against the detrimental disciplinary actions you could face for the alleged violation. Even if dismissal of the case is impossible due to the available evidence, our committed attorneys will strive to help you secure a favorable disciplinary outcome.
Osteopathic Practitioners' Valuable Roles
Osteopathic practitioners play a critical role in the health and medical industry by helping patients with different health issues. The intensive and extensive education and training you undergo equip you with the proper skills to handle various health issues affecting several parts of the human body. Listed below are some of the incredible roles and responsibilities of osteopathic practitioners:
- Offering alternative treatment to patients with various health issues, including heart and digestive issues
- Helping patients with chronic pain manage the bothersome condition through physical therapy, manipulation, and stretching of the joints
- Offering nutritional and exercise guidance to patients who want to protect or boost their health
- Helping patients manage lifestyle conditions like diabetes
- Offering surgical services during emergencies
- Examining newly admitted patients and documenting their medical record
- Assisting patients to stay on track or comply with their rehabilitation and treatment programs
Osteopathic practitioners typically operate under the principle that the tissues and systems of our bodies are interdependent. That means what affects one part of the body can affect the entire body. Even if a medical condition is beyond expertise, you can recommend a patient to a specialist.
Any information or guidance you give your patient is perceived as professional help, meaning the patient will comply with your instructions as required. Since you provide your patients with crucial information that could significantly impact their lives and health, offering helpful and well-thought-out medical advice is advisable.
Unfortunately, your wide array of roles makes you more prone to facing complaints and allegations from coworkers and patients than any other medical practitioner. If the Osteopathic Medical Board of California (OMBC) receives a complaint against you, the steps you take afterward can mean the difference between license suspension and retaining it.
Understanding Osteopathic Practitioner License Applications, Denials, and Statements of Issues
Securing your practice license is the first stage before starting your career journey as a trained osteopathic practitioner. The license application process with the OMBC is straightforward for most people. However, some license applicants could experience challenges due to past work history, criminal background, and related issues.
You should work with an attorney on this life-changing process to ensure you have a better chance of the OMBC accepting your license application. A seasoned attorney can advise you of your legal rights, prepare your osteopathic practitioner license application, attach all the necessary paperwork, and submit it on your behalf.
Unfortunately, if the board rejects our application for an osteopathic physician license, that does not mean you have reached the end of the road for you and your career. The denial of your license application is known as a “statement of issues.”
That is where the services of your attorney become more vital and needed. Your attorney can help you file a reapplication to secure your practice license without unnecessary obstacles. Your attorney can negotiate with the OMBC to receive the most lenient conditions and terms if parole is necessary.
To increase your odds of securing a favorable outcome, your attorney could begin by addressing the underlying criminal charge or work history to show the OMBC you are committed to success and professionalism in your career.
The OMBC Primary Responsibilities
Aside from processing and licensing qualified osteopathic physicians, the OMBC has other responsibilities. One of the board's primary duties is to promote the ideal professional standards and work ethics in osteopathic medicine and protect consumers from unsafe practices and exploitation.
The board is, therefore, responsible for overseeing osteopathic physicians or practitioners and their services across the state to help accomplish this objective. The OMBC is also responsible for conducting investigations and using its regulatory framework and rules to ensure licensed osteopathic practitioners comply with the MPA and all required laws related to their work duties.
Whether the complaint you are up against is from a patient, his/her family members, colleagues, insurance firms, or legal authorities, it is the work of the OMBC to investigate all these cases. After thoroughly examining your case, the board will allow you to file your response and hold a hearing to determine whether you deserve to keep your license.
Acts That Could Attract the Board's Disciplinary Actions
Sometimes, you could make an error and find yourself and your practice under scrutiny by the OMBC. In most cases, the misconduct issue that lands many licensed osteopathic physicians in trouble with the board involves medical malpractice committed while in the line of duty.
Based on the seriousness and nature of your civil misconduct or criminal offense, your penalties could include a reduced or extended license suspension period. Below is an overview of behavior or offense that could attract the board's disciplinary measures:
Involvement in an Insurance Fraud
Like any other medical practitioner, you could find that some of your patients prefer paying for their services using their medical insurance policy, which offers much-needed financial assistance to several patients. While this payment method helps streamline transactions after receiving medical services, some medical practitioners involve their clinics in illegal insurance activities.
For example, double-billing your patient for medical equipment or services he/she has received from your medical establishment or clinic could qualify as insurance fraud. Another way you can commit insurance fraud is by billing a patient for a medical service or equipment he/she never received, especially if he/she fails to return for appointments.
Sexual Misconduct
When you engage in inappropriate or unlawful sexual conduct with a coworker or patient, he/she could submit a complaint with the OMBC. When that happens, the OMBC will investigate the matter, possibly attracting disciplinary action.
As a licensed osteopathic practitioner, the OMBC expects you to stay professional, regardless of the nonverbal signals your patients or coworkers give you while at work. For example, when you are a female osteopathic practitioner, and your patient requires a complete body examination, you should keep a distance and remember to make humble requests to help advance his/her comfort whenever necessary.
Refraining from physical touches is advisable unless your patient grants you permission or consent. While some medical practitioners could overlook these small gestures of courtesy, a patient could misinterpret your physical touches, leading to sexual misconduct allegations.
Maintaining respect and courtesy with all your coworkers in the clinic is also paramount if you are a licensed osteopathic practitioner to prevent or lessen the chances of these detrimental allegations.
Practicing While Intoxicated
Treating your patients while intoxicated by drugs or alcohol could also jeopardize your career as an osteopathic practitioner. Regardless of the severity of a patient's issue, sobriety in the medical industry is vital.
If the OMBC receives a complaint against you, alleging that you treated a patient while intoxicated, it will begin an investigation to find whether the allegations are substantiated or merited. The board will likely suspend your license if it finds these allegations true.
Substance Abuse or Addiction
Substance abuse among medical practitioners violates the standards of most medical licensing boards. If a patient or a colleague suspects that you have a substance abuse addiction, he/she could report it to the OMBC. When that happens, the board will initiate a disciplinary process to determine if you qualify to continue practicing as a licensed osteopathic physician.
Substance abuse allegations could make the board suspend or revoke your license, especially if there is evidence to show you were intoxicated while at your job.
Involvement in Negligent Operations or Activities
As a well-qualified and licensed osteopathic practitioner, OMBC expects you to work and maintain the highest standards in all your operations. That means the board expects you not to commit major mistakes due to recklessness or negligence.
When you refuse or fail to make necessary observations or preparations to prevent reckless or negligence-related errors, you could expose the patient to the risk of life-threatening treatments. If the alleged violation involves negligent operations, the board could take harsh disciplinary action against you, especially if the offense involves gross disregard for human life.
Subjecting Your Patient to Unnecessary Medical Services
When a patient believes that he/she is receiving several unnecessary treatments for his/her illness, a second diagnosis or opinion from a different doctor could reveal your unlawful and unethical motives for enriching yourself.
Unfortunately, these allegations could also attract the board's disciplinary actions because they raise questions about your credibility as a licensed osteopathic practitioner.
Permitting Unqualified Professionals to Practice Under Your License
As a licensed osteopathic practitioner, you could find it challenging to run your clinic without the support staff, including lab technicians and nurses, to help enhance the efficiency of your services. While hiring support staff in your clinic is allowed, hiring or recruiting untrained or unlicensed professionals to work under your license could expose your patients to avoidable medical issues.
If the OMBC receives a complaint alleging that you exposed your patient to the services of an untrained and uncertified medical assistant, you could face harsh disciplinary action for the violation.
A Past Criminal Activity
If you have a criminal history for a criminal offense significantly related to your qualifications or duties as an osteopathic practitioner, the board could decide to revoke your license after carefully scrutinizing your record. That is true regardless of whether the offense is a misdemeanor or a felony. Here are examples of the offenses the OMBC will consider:
- Domestic violence offense conviction
- Drunk driving offense conviction
- Sexual battery offense conviction
- Drug trafficking offense conviction
- Grand theft or petty theft offense conviction
If you are under investigation for any of the above offenses or violations, retaining the services of a seasoned attorney is key. While the board's primary mission is to protect consumers and patients from unlawful and incompetent practices, it does not mean disciplinary action is inevitable if you are under investigation for any of the above offenses.
Your attorney's mitigating defense argument could help challenge these allegations to secure a favorable outcome.
How to Have Your Practice License Reinstated by the OMBC After a Revocation or Suspension
Fortunately, it is possible to challenge the OMBC decision to revoke or suspend your practice license as an osteopathic practitioner. If you choose to apply for a license reinstatement with the help of your attorney, the burden of proof lies on you. That means you or your attorney must convince the board you deserve to keep the license and continue offering your medical services.
To do so, the board will need you to confess verbally or in writing that you are guilty of all the alleged complaints or violations. While this move can be detrimental to your reputation as an osteopathic practitioner, it is vital if you want to reinstate your practice license. In addition, you must convince the board that you are rehabilitated and ready to alter your ways.
Documented evidence from the rehabilitation or counseling programs you attended could come in handy when convincing the OMBC that you are a reformed person.
Find a License Defense Attorney Near Me
Retaining the services of an attorney is a wise idea if you have received an administrative complaint about your practice or services as an osteopathic practitioner. We invite you to call our reliable attorneys at Fresno License Attorney if you plan to apply for an osteopathic practitioner license or are under investigation for any alleged complaint or violation that could compromise your career.
Call us at 559-777-7040 for your first cost-free consultation with our credible attorneys.
