As a professional speech-language pathologist, hearing aid dispenser, or audiologist, your career and reputation are always at risk due to complaints by unsatisfied, aggrieved, or malicious patients or colleagues. This could cost you a career that has taken years and a lot of money to build. However, you can change the outcome of your situation by hiring the best license attorney for guidance, advice, and legal representation. An attorney who has your best interests in mind will fight to safeguard your reputation and livelihood.

At Fresno License Attorney, we have extensive experience guiding and defending licensed professionals against misleading, false, and ungrounded professional complaints. Our team will take time to understand the nature of the allegations against you, review your options, and develop a strong defense. We are available around the clock in Fresno to discuss your challenges and expectations.

The Role of a Speech-Language Pathologist

Speech-language pathologists, also called speech therapists, are healthcare professionals who assist people experiencing speech delays and related challenges. A person’s speaking ability can be affected by various conditions.

You are trained to determine the exact cause of your patient’s speech problem and help them develop and improve it over a particular period. People who struggle with communication appreciate your services a lot. You assist them with pronunciation, rhythm, fluency, and anything else that can improve their speech and communication abilities. Sometimes, you assist people in acquiring or adjusting to a foreign or regional accent.

Your career must be highly fulfilling, especially every time you make progress with your patients. However, it is full of challenges. Unsatisfied, aggrieved, or malicious patients, patient’s family members, workmates, or employers can file allegations or complaints with your licensing board. Allegations like those can ruin your reputation and career, hence the need to work closely with a competent license attorney.

The Role of an Audiologist

Audiologists are healthcare professionals who deal with hearing problems of all kinds. They diagnose, treat, and conduct follow-ups to ensure success.

As an audiologist, you meet different types of young and old patients. Some people’s hearing is impaired, while others have partial hearing. Your training helps you determine the cause of their hearing problem and recommend the best treatment to improve their situation. You must be well-trained to understand various hearing conditions and the proper treatment. Audiologists also treat and manage balance problems. A person’s hearing ability or inability determines their body balance. Typically, audiologists help improve their patient’s quality of life.

Considering the time and money you spend to train and acquire experience to become an audiologist, you expect to enjoy a fulfilling career with minimal or zero problems. That is not always the case, though. You could lose your livelihood if your patients, family members, workmates, or employers file an allegation with your licensing board against you. While you cannot always control how people react to your service, you can defend yourself and protect your career and reputation with the help of a license attorney.

The Role of a Hearing Aid Dispenser

People who lose their hearing ability after a devastating accident or have a chronic illness could benefit from a hearing aid. The device allows them to communicate with their loved ones and live a full and fulfilling life. A hearing aid dispenser determines patients' eligibility for hearing aids and assists them in finding the most suitable one for their needs. You also recommend hearing aids to families and patients who have no idea of the existence of gadgets like those. This involves working closely with your patients and their families for efficiency and satisfaction.

However, this does not always work out as you hope. In diagnosing, recommending, and finding the best hearing aid for your patients, you can make a genuine mistake that risks your career. An unsatisfied patient or a malicious colleague can also file a professional complaint against you. You could lose your license to revocation or suspension and, consequently, a job you love. Engaging the help of a competent license attorney could help you explore options and defense strategies that can help you obtain a reasonable outcome.

The Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board

Speech therapists, hearing aid dispensers, and pathologists are trained professionals who spend a reasonable amount of time and money acquiring the skills needed in their careers. They apply to colleges and attend classes that offer intensive training to ensure they are experts in their profession. After graduating, they are examined by the licensing board to ensure they have the right skills. Only qualified professionals are licensed. These professionals are also expected to continue acquiring on-the-job skills and additional training to serve better in the changing world.

But despite all those challenges, you are expected to constantly defend your license and career from suspension or revocation by the board. Once the board licenses you, it monitors how you serve your patients and your professional conduct, even with your employers and colleagues. A simple mistake puts your entire livelihood at risk.

The board has a larger mandate, which includes ensuring the public receives quality and safe services from licensed professionals. Thus, it takes all complaints and allegations it receives seriously and can take severe action against anyone, putting patients or the public at risk. While you do not expect the board to take your side if an allegation is lodged against you, you can hire an attorney to help you through your career's most challenging period.

The board exists to protect the public from substandard and unsafe practices. When it receives an allegation against you, it will not quickly defend you but will also not be against you. However, it could take the complainant's side, mainly because of its mission. The board investigates most complaints and allegations it receives and has a disciplinary guideline on its website for anyone found guilty of unprofessional behavior. The board appoints administrative judges to handle cases related to accusations and allegations against licensed speech therapists, hearing aid dispensers, and audiologists.

Examples of Accusations You Could Face as a Speech therapist, Audiologist, or Hearing Aid Dispensers

The public, including colleagues and patients, lodges different accusations against speech therapists, hearing aid dispensers, and audiologists. In addition to the complaints the board receives from the public, other issues could trigger an investigation and possibly result in discipline.

Here are some of the problems that can risk your license and career:

  • Drug and alcohol abuse, particularly when working.

  • Committing any type of insurance fraud.

  • Any unprofessional behavior with patients, their families, workmates, or employers.

  • Allowing unqualified individuals to serve patients with you in a capacity that requires proper qualification, like a professional license.

  • Accepting or offering payments or kickbacks to refer patients and families to other professionals.

  • Accepting or asking for payments or kickbacks to recommend a specific treatment or hearing aid.

  • Using false advertising practices to acquire patients.

  • Any form of negligence in the workplace, including ordinary negligence and gross negligence.

  • Being incompetent when treating patients.

  • Failing to care for a patient in dire need.

  • Being arrested or convicted of a crime that substantially affects your professionalism.

  • Being under another licensing board’s investigation, including a boar in a different state.

These are only examples of issues that can trigger the board's investigation and disciplinary action. Once your licensing board receives information or a complaint about you, it will issue you a notice detailing the complaint or issue it is investigating. You must also act fast to find legal representation, advice, and support to ensure you are prepared for what will happen after the investigation.

The Kind of Disciplinary Guidelines The Board Uses Against Licensed Professionals

The outcome of your investigation will guide the board to the kind of disciplinary action it will take against you. Some professional disciplines are lenient for lenient cases, and others are severe for grave cases. Examples of these actions include the following:

Citations and Fines

Your licensing board can issue a citation detailing the circumstances of the allegations against you. A citation brings to your attention the claims and circumstances that led to that allegation. You must resolve that citation by paying a particular fine to the board. Citations are preferred because they do not impact your license. However, they can damage your reputation since the board issues them on its website.

If you care for your reputation, your license attorney can fight the citation on your behalf, at least to keep the matter out of public scrutiny. Your patients, colleagues, employer, and any other significant person in your career will not have to find out about the allegations against you.

Letters of Reprimand

Sometimes, the board issues letters to reprimand professionals facing less severe allegations. A reprimand is a warning against the behavior that resulted in professional complaints. However, the board issues such letters on its website. They could affect your reputation and your job. Your skilled attorney can fight this, too, so your patients, their families, colleagues, and employers will not discover the issues you face with the board.

Suspension and License Revocation

This is a more severe form of punishment for licensed professionals guilty of grave offenses, especially those that put patients at risk of harm. Your licensing board can suspend your license for a specified period or revoke it altogether, leaving you without a means to make a living. Although you can apply for the reinstatement of your license after the revocation period, the suspension will still affect your livelihood. You could lose a good job and your current patients and will likely face difficulties building a new career or finding new patients.

If you face license suspension, your skilled attorney can use mitigating factors to compel the board to dismiss or reduce your suspension period. However, your attorney will require more evidence to fight a license revocation. If the board’s initial decision was to revoke your license, your legal representative can negotiate for a suspended license so that you will keep your career once the matter settles.

Stay of Revocation

A stay of revocation enables you to keep your license instead of losing it altogether through revocation. The board could send you to probation for a specified period to gauge your performance. An aggressive license defense attorney will ensure you receive favorable probation.

Probations are good because you will continue earning a living under the board’s supervision. However, you will be working under stringent probation conditions that could affect your ability to serve your patients effectively.

Criminal Convictions and Your License

A criminal conviction affects your practicing license in many ways. The board can take disciplinary action against you if you face criminal charges or are convicted of a felony or misdemeanor. If the offense substantially affects your ability to provide safe service to your patients, the board can suspend or revoke your license. Here are examples of criminal charges or convictions that can affect your license as a speech pathologist, hearing aid dispenser, or audiologist:

  • Abuse of or addiction to drugs or alcohol.

  • An arrest or conviction for driving under the influence or when addicted to drugs.

  • A grand or petty theft arrest or conviction.

  • Simple possession and possession of a regulated drug for sale.

  • Sexual battery.

  • Domestic violence.

  • Any form of insurance fraud.

Once you are arrested for any of these crimes, the board can take stringent action against your license even before a conviction. For example, the board can do any of the following:

  • Restrict your license if freed on bail to avoid professional misconduct if you are freed on bail.

  • Restrict your license if a court finds you guilty of your charges.

  • Suspend your license through a court order before the determination of your case.

Find an Experienced Professional License Defense Attorney Near Me

Do you or someone you love being investigated by the Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, & Hearing Aid Dispensers Board in Fresno?

An investigation by your licensing board is a severe matter that requires immediate action. You need a competent license defense attorney to help you understand the gravity of the matter, your options, and the strategies you can use to obtain a fair outcome.

We have helped professionals fight to keep their licenses and careers they have built for years at Fresno License Attorney. Our profound understanding of the law enables us to develop the best fighting strategies to safeguard your career and reputation. Contact us at 559-777-7040 to learn more about us.