Acupuncturists are professionals in Asian medicine and treat different medical conditions by stimulating a patient’s body to balance energy. In California, a person becomes an acupuncturist after undergoing the relevant training and passing the licensing exam, which the California Board of Acupuncture administers.

Additionally, the board ensures that licensed acupuncturists adhere to the established standards of care to safeguard acupuncture patients. The licensing board investigates alleged wrongdoing or breaches committed by licensed acupuncturists, which could culminate in disciplinary measures against a licensee. When facing disciplinary action, your livelihood and reputation are at stake, and the consequences for your career, family, and finances can be devastating. The skilled legal team at Sacramento License Attorney can guide and help you navigate the complex regulations of your profession and fight for your rights.

What Does an Acupuncturist Do?

Acupuncture is a traditional practice that enhances recovery by inserting needles into the human body to improve qi (flow of energy). An acupuncturist might also use friction, electromagnetic pulses, pressure, or heat along a patient’s meridians. From its roots in ancient China, acupuncture has become a trusted healing remedy across the globe.

As an acupuncturist, you can work in different settings, from private clinics to established medical facilities. An increasing wealth of scientific research demonstrating the positive impact of acupuncture back up your expertise.

You can treat different types of diseases, including back pain, neck pain, knee pain due to osteoarthritis, headaches, cardiovascular diseases, skin issues, nervous system issues, and infertility. Some patients use acupuncture to complement their existing treatments, while others are seeking an alternative to Western medical practice.

Your responsibilities are as follows:

  • Treating patients using needles, ear balls, pellets, supplements, cups, and seeds
  • Preparing herbal treatments
  • Assessing patients and making diagnoses
  • Developing treatment plans
  • Monitoring recovery progress
  • Ensuring a safe and healthy environment

California Acupuncture Board Mission and Objectives

The board is a regulatory body that oversees and regulates acupuncture practice within the state. The board’s mission is to safeguard the public by regulating the practice through education, enforcement of ethical standards, and licensure.

The board’s objectives are ensuring only qualified persons practice acupuncture, maintaining high educational standards, and enforcing the stringent code of ethics. To realize these objectives, the board implements different regulations and programs, including:

  • California Acupuncture Licensing Exam (CALE) administration
  • Setting continuing education requirements
  • Conducting investigations after a person files a complaint against a practitioner

The complaints that CAB covers can include the following:

  • Substance abuse, particularly when committed while handling a patients
  • Ordinary negligence, incompetence or gross negligence when performing your professional duties
  • Unprofessional conduct
  • Patient abandonment
  • Engaging in insurance fraud
  • Acquiring your acupuncture license fraudulently
  • Sexual misconduct with your patient(s)
  • Being convicted of a crime that is significantly linked to your acupuncturist qualifications and responsibilities
  • Being the subject of investigations from another licensing board, in Golden State or elsewhere
  • Unlawful, false or misleading advertising
  • Falsifying or failing to keep enough medical records
  • Operating a combined acupuncture clinic/massage parlor
  • Allowing prostitution to happen within your facility

Key Regulations Governing Professional License Cases

California law grants acupuncturists legal rights in disciplinary proceedings. These rights include the following:

  • You should receive a notice of the charges you are facing so that you can present your defense.
  • Disciplinary rulings must be supported by clear and convincing proof
  • You can engage in settlement negotiations to resolve allegations and avoid severe discipline measures like license revocation
  • You can appeal the board’s ruling
  • Courts can overturn disciplinary action that is overly severe or has insufficient proof.
  • You have the right to due process.

Your seasoned license defense attorney should be able to utilize these stipulations to defend your acupuncture license.

What Does the Disciplinary Procedure Involve?

Anyone, including your client, competitor, or colleague, can bring a complaint against your license via the CAB’s portal or in written format. The CAB dismisses all unsubstantiated complaints and prioritizes the rest so it investigates the most severe crimes.

If the board investigates you, it will send you a Notice of investigation. Avoid talking to the CAB or an investigator without consulting a skilled lawyer. Otherwise, you could limit your available defense options or undeliberately incriminate yourself. Call your defense lawyer immediately after you receive the notice. The sooner you take action, the better the chances of obtaining the best possible outcome.

The board can drop the allegation if your lawyer is aggressively fighting for you or if inadequate evidence exists on which to base professional discipline. Nonetheless, the board will file a formal accusation if it believes its case against you is strong. Your defense lawyer should be able to contest the statement of issues highlighted in your allegation with evidence in your defense. Potential case outcomes at this point include the following:

  • Stipulated settlement — The Board will agree to a stipulated settlement to expedite disciplinary decisions and promote consumer protection. You must admit to the violation highlighted in the accusation. A memo from the Deputy Attorney General addressed to the CAB explaining the allegation, proposed penalty, mitigation factors, and admissions should accompany every proposed decision.
  • A case dismissal

Next, your legal issue can progress to an administrative hearing overseen by an ALJ or administrative law judge. Your lawyer will challenge the prosecutor’s evidence and arguments at your hearing and submit mitigating circumstances to lessen the harshness of the board’s disciplinary action. The ALJ can impose any disciplinary action, but the CAB should review the ruling before it comes into effect.

Common disciplinary actions include:

  • Citations and fines
  • Letter of reprimand
  • Suspension
  • Revocation
  • Stay of revocation and probation

You have fifteen days to appeal a citation and a month to appeal the board’s final decisions. After the required timeframe elapses, you lose the right forever. Therefore, it is essential to have a lawyer who can fight your accusations and appeal the decision promptly and correctly.

Challenges in License Defense Cases

Defending your license from the board’s disciplinary action comes with challenges, including the following:

  • Strict procedural rules — The board has stringent procedures for investigations, hearings, and appeals. Abiding by these regulations helps obtain a favorable case outcome.
  • Securing witnesses and collecting evidence — While presenting relevant proof and expert testimony during your administrative hearing could result in less severe disciplinary action or even a case dismissal, gathering this evidence can be difficult without legal counsel.
  • Reputational damage — Allegations of wrongdoing or ethical violations could hurt your professional reputation. Protecting your reputation requires a proactive defense.
  • Minimal time to file responses — The board has established guidelines to file responses and conduct disciplinary hearings, requiring fast and strategic urgency to develop a formidable defense.

With skilled legal counsel, you can overcome these difficulties. The attorney will fight for you at every step of the disciplinary process, develop a solid defense strategy, and ensure procedural compliance.

Potential Defenses

Defenses that your attorney can use to fight the charges against you include the following:

  • Insufficient evidence — The board must present substantial proof to support accusations of wrongdoing. Your lawyer can identify weaknesses in its case against you to craft strong arguments in your defense.
  • Procedural mistakes or errors — Your lawyer can contest investigations that do not comply with due process, like denial of an opportunity to submit proof.
  • Exaggerated or false complaints — Your lawyer can investigate the complaint’s motives and credibility and challenge inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the board’s testimony or proof against you.
  • Good faith compliance — Your attorney can submit evidence demonstrating that you made reasonable efforts to cooperate with the board requirements, which could mitigate potential penalties.

Different Probation Terms and Conditions

Probation permits you to keep practicing with specific limitations and requirements. It is better than a license suspension or revocation.

Some of the terms and conditions you must abide by when the CAB imposes probation against you can include the following:

  • Comply with every law — You should obey every local, state, and federal law and all regulations governing acupuncture practice within the state. You should give the board a comprehensive account of any violation within 72 hours of occurrence.
  • You should submit quarterly reports under penalty under perjury on the board's forms, indicating whether you have adhered to all probation conditions.
  • You should notify CAB of all changes in employment, address, and location within a month of the change.
  • You should reimburse the CAB for the hourly costs of monitoring your probation to ensure adherence during your probationary period.
  • Abstain from alcohol and drugs — You should completely abstain from possession of or personal use of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs requiring a prescription. You should undergo random and biological fluid tests as the board determines. The board determines the frequency and duration of the tests. A positive finding is a breach of probation.
  • If you leave the state to live or practice outside California, tell the board the date of your departure and return. Periods of practice or residency outside California will not reduce your probationary duration.
  • You should neither supervise nor employ an acupuncture trainee during your probationary duration.
  • You should attend interviews with the CAB or its designee upon request at several intervals and with reasonable notice.

If you violate any term, the CAB can, after giving you a notice and a chance to hear you, revoke probation and execute the disciplinary measure that was highlighted. Suppose anyone files a petition to revoke probation or an accusation against you during probation. In that case, the board will continue the jurisdiction until the case is resolved and extend the probation duration until the case is closed.

The board will restore your license after you complete your probation.

Interim Suspension Order

An ISO is also called an Order of Temporary Suspension. Either your licensing board or an ALJ can issue the emergency suspension order. After receiving the order, you should stop every licensed activity until your board concludes its investigation and dismisses the case or imposes a disciplinary measure.

After the board petitions an ALJ for an ISO, it will notify you of the upcoming hearing. Nonetheless, if the board determines you are an immediate public threat, the board can activate the ISO at an initial emergency hearing. The ALJ can listen to you to decide whether or not you are an imminent risk to public safety.

If the board issued the ISO, you do not have to receive an Accusation and advance notice. You should act fast after the board has served you an interim suspension order. You cannot afford to sit down without working for months while the board completes its investigations.

You can stop the interim suspension after receiving notice by responding and persuading the board or the judge to cancel your ISO. It entails presenting compelling proof at the hearing of why the order is unnecessary. Practical defenses to use are as follows:

  • Proving that allowing you to keep practicing will not present a pending risk to the public
  • Showing that the ISO could adversely affect your career

Preventive Measures and Best Practices

While understanding the license defense procedure is beneficial, implementing preventive action could help a licensee avoid the board's disciplinary proceedings.

Best practices can include the following:

  • Keeping current with the latest rules and standards
  • Completing continuing education
  • Adhering to the board’s guidelines
  • Maintaining accurate and thorough documentation of patient interactions and all professional activities
  • Having a strong professional support system can offer guidance and advice when required.
  • Obtaining professional liability insurance that could cover costs related to license defense
  • Conducting consistent self-audits of your practice can assist you in identifying and addressing potential issues before things escalate into disciplinary proceedings.

Contact an Experienced Attorney Near Me

You should consider the matter urgent after learning of the allegations against you; your license, reputation, livelihood, finances, and career are at risk. You should first enlist the services of a license defense attorney before engaging the board. The lawyer can build a compelling defense, provide legal advice, and respond to the board’s investigators probing your license. Sacramento License Attorney can guide you through every phase of the case. Once you contact our office, we can review your case and collect evidence to build valid defense strategies. Please reach out to us by calling us at 279-242-4711.