You undergo intensive training and education before you acquire an occupational therapy license. After completing your studies and training, you must undergo a tedious and costly process to obtain a practicing license. Sadly, even after the approval of your license application, you must work hard to retain the permit, as you are prone to lawsuits, complaints, and misconduct accusations from unsatisfied clients.

Your license is always at risk because you work with injured individuals, persons with disabilities, or those dealing with physical and mental issues, which is why you are held to a higher standard of professionalism. If a complaint or investigation threatens your license or you need help securing a license, we at Santa Cruz License Attorney can help. We have successfully represented occupational therapists and their assistants, making us most suitable to represent you in your case.

Roles Played By Occupational Therapy Licensees

Bodily and mental impairments are rampant in California. The impairments hinder one's ability to engage in routines. Even the slightest roles that healthy people perform with little or no struggle are difficult for injured, physically or mentally impaired persons. One can feel hopeless when they cannot engage in activities they used to perform effortlessly. Occupational therapy licensees like therapists or therapy assistants bring hope to these individuals by training them to become independent and regain their motor skills that were lost after the mental or bodily impairment.

People suffer mental or physical injuries from fatal accidents, crime incidents, or major surgeries. After these injuries, these people cannot engage in daily activities like they used to, forcing them to depend on caregivers for simple tasks like sitting, walking, or using the bathroom. Occupational therapists and their assistants change the lives of these injured people by helping them regain their full capacities. They restore motor skills and help them cook, eat, dress, and control their time and resources using occupational therapy.

As an occupational therapy licensee, your responsibilities include teaching your patients how to use assisting devices like scratches, prostheses, and others to become independent. Additionally, you must keep proper records of your patients and their progress and update insurance companies.

From these roles performed by occupational therapy licensees, you can deduce that your role is critical as you help people in their darkest moments and give them hope when they are giving up. Some of these patients could be frustrated that they did not achieve the desired outcome from the treatment, filing complaints or initiating lawsuits. Therefore, as much as you do your best to assist these persons, you work under immense pressure, as the slightest misunderstanding or mistake could sideline your license. A frustrated patient can also bring false allegations against you when the treatment does not go as planned. When the treatment goes wrong, the patient’s relatives can assume you were negligent or incompetent, leading to a complaint.

At Santa Cruz License Attorney, we recognize your critical role and the risks in your line of duty. We know the source of most complaints in your profession and the best defenses to protect a license cancellation or withdrawal.

California Statutes Governing Occupational Therapy

The California Occupational Therapy Practice Act is the primary statute that governs occupational therapists and assistants. Established by the Act, the California Board of Occupational Therapy (CBOT)  is responsible for safeguarding occupational therapy consumers, issuing licenses, and taking disciplinary actions against licensees who engage in misconduct. The statute also provides procedures that should be followed in the license application, suspension, or cancellation.

Complaints You Are Likely to Face as an Occupational Therapist

The common allegations you will face in this profession are:

  • Offering occupational therapy services without a permit.
  • Acquiring your practicing license fraudulently.
  • Hiring unlicensed occupational therapy assistants.
  • Physical, emotional, financial, or mental abuse of a patient.
  • Committing insurance fraud.
  • Participating in sexual misconduct with your patient.
  • Engaging in misleading advertisement.
  • On-the-job drug or alcohol abuse.
  • A conviction for a violation substantially relating to your practice.
  • Failure to maintain appropriate therapist-patient confidentiality.
  • Unlawful prescription of drugs.
  • Handling illegal drugs.
  • Unlawfully adjusting a patient’s physician-issued prescription without consulting.
  • Keeping misleading patient records.

When you engage in acts like practicing while under the influence of drugs or alcohol or contravening probationary terms, you will be suspended for an interim period. With the suspension, you cease providing services until the case's conclusion. CBOT issues the suspension to protect the public from harmful practices during their investigation or pending the administrative hearing. If your allegation is minor and does not pose an immediate threat to public safety, your permit will not be temporarily suspended. The disciplinary board will let you continue practicing until the pending case is concluded.  

The License Application Process

It is illegal to practice occupational therapy in California without authorization from the CBOT. The law mandates that the board license occupational therapy professionals who satisfy the set standards. 

So, even after years of education and training, to become a professional in this field, you must apply for a license to start practicing. Your application to the CBOT must contain your academic credentials, a declaration under oath stating that you meet all the board's requirements for licensure, and your signature. Do not forget to attach the receipts for the application fee payment.

Once the board receives your application, they will review it and investigate the information provided to establish if it is factual and if you satisfy the conditions in the law regarding the profession. The board will then schedule several examinations, which, when you complete satisfactorily, will grant you a practicing license.

The license application procedure is lengthy, expensive, and tedious. Besides, there is no assurance you will receive a license once you complete the application forms and pay the requisite fees. Many applications do not succeed for many reasons, usually stated in the application rejection. Therefore, if your application has been declined or you want to do it right the first time, speak to an experienced license attorney for guidance. The attorney can request an administrative evaluation of the board’s decision if you believe your application was unjustly declined.

If you are lucky enough to secure a license from the board, you are not yet safe because you could lose the permit whenever a patient files a claim against you for misconduct or incompetence. When you face an accusation, do not lose hope because you have a fighting chance at the administrative hearing to present your case and avoid disciplinary action.

CBOT Disciplinary Guidelines

CBOT receives all complaints of violating occupational therapy laws from patients, your colleagues, patients' relatives, or other third parties. Not all complaints are worth investigating, so the board first establishes if the person making the claim can substantiate it or whether the claim has any weight.

If the claim against you holds some weight, CBOT will notify you of an impending investigation. Besides sending a notice, the board’s investigator can call or visit your physical address to inform you of the complaint. When an investigator visits in person, be hesitant to answer their questions to avoid divulging self-incriminating statements that could weaken your defense. You are better off talking to your attorney before taking action after the notice.

To learn about CBOT’s guidelines, visit the board’s website. The information on the site will give you an insight into the guidelines the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will rely on for their decision. For instance, if you have been accused of drug abuse while on duty, the ALJ can order that you cease practicing occupational therapy immediately. The judge also has the discretion to impose additional punishment apart from what is provided in the guidelines, depending on your case’s circumstances.

Nonetheless, when you face minor accusations that do not endanger your patient’s safety and welfare, the disciplinary measures will be lenient. With legal representation, you can compel the ALJ to withdraw your license for only thirty days and send you to probation for thirty-six months. Once the thirty days are over, the board reinstates your license, allowing you to practice, but you will be working under strict conditions for the probationary period.

Sometimes, an experienced attorney convinces the CBOT to issue you a citation or a reprimand letter. With these punishments, you continue practicing as usual. However, the attorney must present mitigating circumstances like proof of rehabilitation or victim restitution to reduce punishment. With the help of a proficient attorney, you can obtain a dismissal, and where it is not possible, the attorney can negotiate a lenient disciplinary measure.

The Administrative Proceeding

Many cases involving occupational therapy licensees do not reach the administrative hearing stage. An experienced lawyer will settle the case before the hearing. However, even if the case reaches this phase, your defense attorney can assist you in securing a fair outcome.

If your case is not settled, an ALJ will be appointed to preside over the case. The ALJ listens to the arguments and reviews evidence from the CBOT’s investigator and your attorney. In this stage, your lawyer will poke holes in the evidence presented by the investigator. Further, they will submit mitigating factors. The defense attorney will also cross-examine witnesses and call expert witnesses to testify in your favor.

Your presence for the administrative proceeding is typically unnecessary, as your defense attorney can appear. Nevertheless, if your absence could hurt the case or your presence increases the chances of a fair outcome, you should present yourself to give your side of the story.

When attending court, your attorney should guide you on how to answer questions and avoid statements that could be incriminating. Self-representation in these proceedings is a huge mistake you do not want to make when fighting for your license. When you do so, you will lose all the benefits of competent legal representation, like reduced penalties, case dismissal, or probation instead of license withdrawal or revocation.

An ALJ takes several factors into account before deciding on the case. These factors are:

  • The complaint’s severity.
  • Proof of rehabilitation.
  • The number of professional violations you face.
  • Mitigating and aggravating circumstances present in the case.
  • Whether you cooperated with board investigators.
  • Whether you admitted the mistakes that led to the complaint and the possibility of repeating the error.
  • If your misconduct caused a patient to suffer harm or injuries.
  • Whether you have previously faced disciplinary action from the agency.
  • Whether you have a previous conviction for a violation substantially related to occupational therapy.

For violations regarding substance or alcohol abuse while on duty, you risk severe penalties. Nevertheless, before imposing disciplinary measures, the ALJ will request a professional to run a medical examination to establish if you have a drug or alcohol problem. If you have an addiction, the ALJ will recommend enrolling in a drug or alcohol treatment program. Besides, testing positive for narcotics or alcohol means you will stop practicing immediately. Even in these circumstances, your case is not entirely hopeless. Your legal representative can find valid reasons to convince the judge to overturn the suspension and impose probation that will let you continue practicing, although under strict conditions.

The conditions you must satisfy while on probation are:

  • Reporting to your probation officer or supervisor regularly.
  • Staying away from crime for the probationary period.
  • Presenting yourself before CBOT when instructed to do so.
  • Informing the board whenever you move to a new location or change addresses.
  • Informing your employer that you are serving license probation.
  • Enrolling and finishing all training programs relating to your complaint.

Sometimes, the ALJ will impose optional probationary terms like:

  • Participating in physical and mental exams.
  • Attending support group meetings.
  • Enrolling and finishing a state-approved rehabilitation course.
  • Presenting a clinical diagnostic evaluation to CBOT.

Complying with these conditions can be challenging. So, your attorney should negotiate with the judge to grant more favorable terms that lower the chances of violation.

After closing the case, you should compensate CBOT for all the costs incurred during investigations and administrative proceedings. Besides, you should pay them for monitoring expenses. You will likely not have the money to pay the board because of the legal fees you incur and the interim suspension. Therefore, you must negotiate a payment plan with the board to pay them in installments for twelve months.

Find a Competent Occupational Therapy License Attorney Near Me

At the Santa Cruz License Attorney, we understand your critical role as an occupational therapy licensee and how easy it is to attract complaints or lawsuits in the line of duty. Therefore, whenever you face a complaint, our attorneys will be available to evaluate your case, negotiate a settlement, and even represent you in the administrative proceedings for a complaint dismissal or reduction in disciplinary measures. Apart from defending your license, we can help you with the application process to increase the chances of CBOT approval. Contact us at 831-732-4390 for a no-obligation consultation with our defense attorneys.