As a professional veterinarian, you have a demanding job. The emotional stress of seeing an injured animal in pain, together with dealing with the owners' anxious concerns, can overwhelm you over time. That is why it can be frustrating and overwhelming to have the California Veterinary Medical Board call your professional license into question by alleged complaints filed against you. Your veterinarian's career and livelihood depend on the license, and you should act promptly to safeguard yourself and your profession by consulting a professional license defense attorney. We at San Francisco License Attorney have detailed knowledge and experience of the licensing agency’s processes and rules. We can use them to help you achieve positive results for your case. 

The Role of a Veterinarian

A veterinarian is an animal doctor. You use your skills to evaluate animals, diagnose them, and treat different diseases. In other words, you preserve the quality of life by alleviating animal pain and partnering with pet owners to help them care for the animals.

Working with pets scratches the surface of your role. Here is what a vet does daily:

  • Diagnose diseases.
  • Administer vaccines.
  • Prescribe medications.
  • Perform surgical procedures.
  • Educate pet owners, including offering nutrition recommendations.
  • Complete diagnostic tests.

Just like in human medicine, where there are different specialties, the responsibilities of vets vary depending on their focus area. Some examples of vets include the following:

  • Companion animal vet — They treat pets in private facilities. They diagnose and offer treatment for animal diseases, work with pet owners about preventative health care, and perform surgical and medical procedures like setting fractures, vaccinations, and dental work.
  • Equine vet — They focus on diagnosing and treating horses.
  • Research vets — They work in labs and conduct clinical research on animal and human health challenges.
  • Food safety and inspection vets — They test and inspect animal products for animal illnesses, offer vaccines, improve animal welfare, and enforce food safety rules. They administer and design programs that prevent and control diseases transmissible to animals and between people and animals.

The Function of the California Veterinary Medical Board

The Veterinary Medical Board is a California Department of Consumer Affairs division headquartered in Sacramento. Its core mission is safeguarding the general public by regulating veterinarians licensed in California.

It also handles disciplinary cases against licensees, and although sometimes the accusations can be unfounded or exaggerated, the board conducts investigations to establish if there are adequate grounds for disciplinary actions. If you are a veterinarian facing investigations, you should hire a skilled, proven, and aggressive license defense lawyer with extensive administrative law and procedure expertise to help you secure the most favorable case outcome.

The professional licensing board is responsible for investigating all accusations. That means even less severe accusations can result in disciplinary measures against the veterinary licensee if they find substantial evidence.

Common allegations against veterinarians include the following:

  • Fraudulent billing practices.
  • Obtaining a license through fraud.
  • Causing harm to animals or humans.
  • California health code violations.
  • Allowing unlicensed assistants to work under you.
  • Using anesthesia irresponsibly.
  • Professional misconducts.
  • Overstepping the boundaries of your professional license and expertise.
  • Drug or substance abuse while on duty.
  • Falsifying documents or failure to store records properly.
  • Insurance fraud.
  • Incompetence and gross negligence relating to your professional license.
  • Being under disciplinary sanctions in California or other states.

Potential Disciplinary Actions

If the board finds you in violation of their professional ethics code and standard of care, it can impose the following disciplinary actions:

  • Probation against your license.
  • Suspension of your license.
  • Revocation of your license.
  • Ordering you to undergo additional training.
  • You could be ordered to practice under the guidance and supervision of another veterinarian.
  • Ordering that you enroll for ethics training.
  • Instruct you to undergo a diversion program for drugs and substance abuse.
  • Letter of reprimand.
  • Citation.

The simplest form of discipline is a license citation or a letter of reprimand. The two can establish a public record of the breach, and a license citation could also attract a hefty fine.

The board imposes a license suspension or revocation in more serious accusations. A suspension prohibits you from practicing for a stipulated period, while a revocation can be indefinite.

Your license defense attorneys should work aggressively to secure a stay of revocation through probation. The outcome can be less extreme than a license revocation because it will enable you to keep practicing as a veterinarian under certain restrictions.

Tips on Protecting Your Veterinarian License Against Claims

You can do the following to safeguard your license against any claims:

  • Understand how to prevent malpractice claims — Always conduct your veterinary duties defensively.
  • Get familiar with your Veterinary Practice Act — Seek to understand what actions pose a significant risk of client complaints and regulatory follow-up.
  • Be transparent when communicating with your clients — Establish an extensive paper trail. Try to sort out client dissatisfaction before the issue escalates to a formal accusation.
  • Try to spot the initial signs of animal client discontent.
  • Maintain detailed records of every animal care offered and why — In each case, uphold the highest standard of care.
  • Be mindful when trying to get payment from clients — The animal owners could retaliate by falsely implying that you offered their pets poor care.
  • Try to spot the first indicators of client discontent — Inform your malpractice insurer immediately to ask for instructions on dealing with the situation before it escalates into full-blown litigation.
  • If a client files a suit against you, request tips from your attorney and insurer on malpractice claims' do’s and don’ts.

An Overview of the Disciplinary Process

Here is what to expect during the Veterinary Medical Board-initiated disciplinary process:

How the Board’s Investigations Starts

Suppose the board has reason(s) to believe there are grounds to investigate an allegation or complaint of the violations of the California Health Code. In that case, it will assign an investigator to:

  • Collect relevant documents.
  • Interview witnesses.
  • Conduct interviews with the complainant.
  • Request the veterinarian licensee a professional written response.

The investigating official will often ask you, the veterinarian, to sign an order authorizing access to your employment history and avail yourself to an interview. Employing a defense lawyer at the start of the board’s investigations is the most sensible thing to do. The attorneys will help you avoid making irreversible errors and missing crucial opportunities to mount a strong case defense.

Notice of Defense

Once you receive the board’s formal accusation, you should file a notice of defense within fifteen (15) days. Your notice of defense informs the board you plan on fighting the allegations against you. Once your lawyer files a notice of defense, your case will be transferred to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). At the OAH, your case will be assigned to an AL judge to supervise the hearings.

Veterinary Professional Case Expert Assessment

In disciplinary cases that involve license overreach, breaching the standard of care, or other specialized technical aspects, the board can hire another professional licensed veterinarian to do the following:

  • Evaluate your case file.
  • Act as a consultant.
  • Make expert determinations if the practitioner’s actions were grossly negligent, unprofessional, or breached the Veterinary Practice Act.

These case experts are imperfect, and their findings can eventually be contested in court through cross-examination and rebuttal proof in an administrative hearing when necessary. Your experienced and proven license defense attorney can help you provide a robust and evidence-backed rebuttal.

Formal Accusation

Upon completing the board’s investigation against you, the assigned investigator will draft a report based on their findings. If the board had hired expert consultants, it will review the investigative report, including the expert's conclusions, before deciding whether to bring charges against your veterinary license. You will then receive a formal accusation, which contains your alleged wrongdoing.

Time is of the essence after you receive the formal accusation. You should respond quickly, before the deadline, to keep your legal right to challenge the board’s charges or seek a stipulated agreement.

Negotiated Agreements and Administrative Proceedings

Although the licensing board can schedule a disciplinary hearing where the veterinary licensee and their legal counsel can present proof and defense arguments, the parties can opt for a negotiated agreement without conducting disciplinary hearings. The negotiated settlement is less damaging for a licensee and usually leads to a favorable resolution. An attorney with expertise in disciplinary proceedings can assess your options and “talk” the licensing agency’s language. The stipulated agreement procedure is mostly successful if there are mitigating factors and if you are willing to agree to certain sanctions.

Suppose the licensing board is unwilling to have a negotiated deal, or you choose not to seek a negotiated agreement. In that case, the ALJ will schedule and preside over the administrative hearing. Since the hearing is not a criminal proceeding, many due process protections granted to criminal defendants do not apply. During the administrative hearings, your attorneys and the board’s lawyer will present proof and arguments to support your side of the story. Nevertheless, civil regulations of evidence do not apply.

When the administrative law judge renders a ruling within thirty (30) days, the licensing board will either implement that decision, amend it, or ignore it.

In many cases, the professional licensing board will place probationary measures on your license with specific sanctions. In more severe cases, they could make a suspension or revocation of your veterinary license. Any disciplinary action imposed becomes public knowledge.

Contesting the Licensing Board’s Decision

You can challenge the administrative law judge’s ruling by filing a Writ of Mandate in California Superior Court. Although not considered an appeal, the writ acts as an appeal because it requests the Superior Court to review the ALJ’s ruling. There are certain legal parameters in which you can make this evaluation because there must be an accusation of factual or legal errors or violation of discretion by the Administrative Law Judge.

The Importance of Hiring a Lawyer to Represent You

Attorneys do more than just represent you throughout your investigation. Discussed below are reasons why you need legal representation and assistance.

Self-Representation Can Hurt Your Case

A common blunder unrepresented individuals make is speaking to an investigator. The investigating official has professional training and aims to obtain answers that align with the board's investigations. The investigating officer’s mission is not to listen to your recounting of events.

However, with skilled legal counsel handling your case, they will decide whether it is a strategic decision for you to talk to the investigator. The attorney can also handle all the communications on your behalf.

Attorneys are Professional Negotiators

Some essential aspects of the board’s investigations against you happen off the record. An experienced lawyer is a competent negotiator. They know the witnesses and experts to talk to, including the points to raise, to achieve the most favorable outcomes.

With a Lawyer, You Are Not Alone

It is easy for feelings of isolation or helplessness to creep in quickly after learning that you are facing disciplinary proceedings from the licensing board. However, with a lawyer, you can rest assured that they will handle the investigation's various aspects correctly.

Additionally, your professional license defense attorney is seasoned to guide and assist you through every step of the case.

An Attorney Will Effectively Handle The Case Details

The case details carry lots of weight, so the appropriate method to defend yourself against the board’s investigations is to present a complete picture of what transpired.

The finest details are an effective tool for fighting the allegations against you. The case specifics could be tedious to collect, manage, and interpret. An attorney understands which case details matter, the image they portray, and how to properly present the evidence to the board.

Not Hiring a Lawyer Can Be More Costly

Defending a professional license requires knowledge, training, and experience, and you could commit costly errors because you are not a skilled lawyer. The mistakes can include overlooking an essential fact, mismanaging some procedural steps, or saying the wrong things while defending your license. These seeming simple blunders could promptly add up and cost you the veterinarian professional license.

Find Qualified Legal Representation Near Me

As a veterinarian, you hold an esteemed place in the community, treating and maintaining the health of animals. As expected for this demanding profession, the board takes accusations or complaints of misconduct seriously. If you have learned your license is at risk of investigation, contact the San Francisco License Attorney at 415-919-6594 to book a free case review. We can stand with you at all stages of the disciplinary process. We can gather evidence and draft convincing responses to the licensing agency during your investigation. If an agreed resolution is possible, we can negotiate the most favorable terms, and if not, our litigation skills can be invaluable.