You must have invested substantial time and incurred significant costs to acquire the status of a licensed osteopathic professional. This profession requires extra credits and extensive skills. You must cover vast coursework and financial sacrifice to secure a practicing license from the Osteopathic Medical Board of California (OMBC). However, a minor misconduct could put your license at risk, mainly if the malpractice is directly linked to your profession. It can be devastating to find yourself in a position where you lose your hard-earned license. You will not continue working without a license until your case is resolved. You should consult a competent attorney if your license is at risk. At the Sacramento License Attorney, we have experienced attorneys who can guide you on the steps to take if you are under board investigation or the OMBC suspends your professional license.

The Crucial Role Of An Osteopathic

Osteopathic practitioners play a significant role in the medical field because they cover a broad scope of treatment. You can deal with various conditions as an osteopathic practitioner which affect different parts of the human body. Osteopathics have a broad clientele base because they are trained to handle patients with heart problems, digestive problems, as well as central nervous system conditions.

Your services can also be required in the emergency treatment department as a surgeon who deals with medical emergencies either on-call or in a permanent position. Sometimes, osteopathics advise patients seeking directives on how to handle and live with different lifestyle ailments like diabetes and high blood pressure. Your skills can be crucial to any patient seeking an appointment, particularly if the patient must comply with strict rules to achieve a fast recovery rate.

Osteopathic practitioners are also responsible for examining new patients and documenting prior medical conditions. Based on the information you gathered, your role is crucial in informing any future medical undertakings, which encompasses treatment methods and surgery options. In this case, osteopathics must have enough skills to conduct sound patient examinations. Ignoring any possible acute condition could put patients in danger.

Additionally, osteopathic practitioners must assist patients in staying on the right path regarding recovery. Osteopathics use counseling as one way to guide patients on how to lead a better lifestyle. Any information you pass to the patient is deemed a professional guideline. There is a high chance that your patient will follow your instructions to the letter in good faith. Osteopathics must ensure patients' interests are in mind and give sound medical advice.

Typically, osteopathic practitioners must handle their patients with professional ethics to ensure they receive the best treatment. However, osteopathics could become susceptible to reports that portray them in a bad light because of the broad scope of responsibilities to handle. Your career could be in jeopardy if a patient reports even a single case of misconduct to the Osteopathic Medical Board. You should always strive to uphold high levels of professionalism. This could help you avoid facing stressful claims that could lead to losing your practicing license.

Activities That Could Attract The Revocation Or Suspension Of Your License

Sometimes, an osteopathic practitioner could find themselves in a compromising situation that warrants disciplinary action. Often, the offenses that can land you in trouble with the Osteopathic Medical Board involve malpractices you engage in when executing your duties. Depending on the type of offense or civil wrong you commit, you could face varying punishment outcomes from the board. You can face a prolonged or short license suspension period, depending on the facts of your case. The following are some of the actions which could warrant scrutiny and reprimand from the board:

Allowing Assistants That Have No License To Work For You

Running a hospital or clinic as an osteopathic doctor is not easy. You require support staff like laboratory technicians and nurses to enhance the efficacy of all systems. However, you must carry out a serious analysis before hiring medical assistants. You must interview an individual’s skill level to ensure that you secure the services of professionals up to the task.

A suitably qualified medical assistant would demand higher pay than unlicensed candidates who can provide similar skills. Therefore, some osteopathic doctors might be tempted to go for unlicensed assistants even if it is unethical. They will do this because unlicensed assistants would provide cheap labor to the hospital or clinic. As a result, the unlicensed assistants can provide subpar treatment to the patients and expose them to avoidable health risks. You could face severe punishment from the medical board if a patient or inspecting officers establish that you have hired unlicensed medical assistants. The board could impose disciplinary actions because of deliberately exposing your patients to uncertified or untrained medical personnel.

Subjecting Your Patients To Unnecessary Treatment

Sometimes, you could be engrossed in securing several sources of earning income. Some osteopathics impose unnecessary extra appointments and prescriptions for their patients. A second opinion from another doctor could expose your illegal intentions if the patient feels that he/she is receiving unnecessary medical treatment for their condition. These activities would attract a license revocation or suspension because they lower your credibility levels. Your practice could also be predatory and unprofessional because it prevails based on the limited knowledge of the patient. In this case, the patient cannot question your directives, allowing you to earn extra income from unnecessary treatment prescriptions.

Past Criminal Activities

The Osteopathic Medical Board could scrutinize your records and decide to revoke your professional license if you have a criminal record or past convictions. The board could review your records and use the information to decide on your career fate regardless of whether the charges you faced amounted to a misdemeanor or felony. Under the Business Professional Code Section 490, the board has the power to revoke or suspend your license. This law permits the board to take any disciplinary action it deems fit after unearthing the details regarding your past convictions.

The Osteopathic Medical Board could only consider offenses that are directly related to your field of practice. It could discard any other unnecessary criminal records under sections 223.6a and 223.7. As a result, the law allows your attorney to raise an objection to the board and object to the consideration of the details that are not linked to your career. A conviction for the following crimes can impact your osteopathic career:

  • Conviction records for possession of a controlled substance, which could also include your intention to sell the substance.

  • Domestic battery charges.

  • Engaging in sexual battery.

  • A conviction for involvement in grand or petty theft.

  • Convictions for driving under the influence.

The board, however, could still have the upper hand in making the final ruling because it is allowed to consider all relevant convictions. Some of the convictions could include those that you served under probation and pleaded guilty to during the plea taking. At this point, the board could still treat you like any other convicted person. The board can impose disciplinary action even if you pleaded guilty and served your sentence under mitigated guidelines. However, your licensed attorney could persuade the board to consider the positive actions portrayed in your past convictions records and bargain for a lesser suspension period.

Engaging In Grossly Negligent Practices

An osteopathic doctor is held to a very high standard as a qualified medical practitioner. However, the professional could still commit certain gross mistakes out of negligence. You can expose your patients to hazardous medical treatment if you fail to make the necessary preparations or observations to avoid a mishap enabled by negligence. Sometimes, you could administer treatment that turns out to be fatal.

The board takes negligence issues very seriously, particularly if you show outright concern for the patient’s well-being. For example, you would have acted in gross negligence if you failed to record a patient’s blood group before authorizing a blood transfusion. Subsequently, your license could be revoked or suspended for failing to apply yourself to the duties at hand.

Administering Medical Treatment While Intoxicated

Abuse of alcohol and drugs could endanger your job, particularly if you look disoriented while treating your patients. This profession requires a high standard of operation, regardless of how straightforward the treatment activity you are involved in appears. Your patient could report you to the relevant authorities if he/she suspects that you are intoxicated during working hours. This could attract a disciplinary hearing to ascertain if you can continue practicing.

Sexual Misconduct With Your Workers Or Patients

Your worker or patient can report you to the relevant authorities if you engage in inappropriate sexual advances. Consequently, you could face several punitive outcomes if the allegations attract the board's attention. You should always remain professional with everyone you interact with at work. You must uphold professionalism regardless of the non-verbal signals you pick from your patients. For example, you should keep your distance if you are a male Osteopathic doctor doing a complete body examination on a female patient. Instead of proceeding to touch her without affirmation, you should make requests to advance at her comfort. These simple courtesy actions might seem obvious but are always overlooked. The results could raise allegations against you, possibly for sexual misconduct, which might or might not be deliberate on your part.

Additionally, you should maintain respect with all the co-workers, particularly the subordinate staff. Adhere to the requirement to level with those who work under your supervision. This will help you avoid any potential claims of sexual misconduct, particularly when an employee feels uncomfortable around you. The employee could find it hard to raise their concerns about your level of interaction with them because he/she views you as the superior. The employee could eventually report you for sexual misconduct even if you have not made an outright approach.

Engaging In Insurance Fraud Activities

Your patients could pay you as a medical professional for their treatment using medical insurance schemes, which provide financial relief. Some doctors involve their establishments in fraudulent insurance operations even if this mode of payment should make transactions more efficient. For example, your offense could attract punitive penalties if you double-bill a patient for a service or medical products obtained from your clinic.

You could also commit insurance fraud by charging patients with insurance coverage for services they did not receive, particularly for a missed appointment. Most osteopathic practitioners do this with the hopes of non-discovery by the patients because most patients do not follow up on all payment receipts and confirmation emails. However, misconduct can have a lot of inconvenient repercussions if you get caught.

The Consequences Of Professional Misconduct

The board can summon you for a disciplinary hearing when you are guilty of professional misconduct or criminal offense. You will have a chance to give your account of events during the hearing. The board can impose a warning or a fine if it establishes that your misconduct was minor. You could also face a letter of reprimand whose purpose is to discourage you from engaging in similar behavior in the future.

However, no matter how minor, you should not ignore a board disciplinary action. Even a minor disciplinary action, like a reprimand, can hurt your career since it can tarnish your reputation. Public reprimands are accessible to patients on the board’s website. Patients can lose faith in you following a board disciplinary action. Therefore, you should hire an experienced attorney to fight your charges and clear your name.

The board can impose severe disciplinary actions for serious violations like suspension or revocation of your license. A license suspension is for a defined period, while a revocation is indefinite. Your attorney can fight against a license suspension or revocation. If a license suspension is inevitable, your attorney can negotiate for a shorter suspension period.

Find A Skilled License Attorney Near Me

If your osteopathic license is at risk, you need an experienced attorney to help you fight the charges against you. Go for an attorney who has handled license defense cases before and understands the process. The Sacramento License Attorney has skilled attorneys who focus on license defense. You can count on our support whether your case is complex or straightforward. We have what it takes to fight your charges. Call us at 279-242-4711 to speak to one of our attorneys.