Respiratory care practitioners (RCPs) provide crucial patient care duties in hospitals and other healthcare facilities across California. These professionals treat patients with various breathing-related complications and conditions, and they must possess significant stamina and knowledge to handle the demands they face and the long hours they have to work.

Even the most qualified RCP can commit an error or be subject to a complaint. Should the RCB (Respiratory Care Board) feel the complaint warrants further investigations, the practitioner may be subject to an uncomfortable and scary situation. A formal Accusation seeking to revoke or suspend an RCP’s professional license should not be taken lightly. It needs the help of a highly experienced lawyer.

At Santa Cruz License Attorney, we have decades of combined experience and have tackled many cases before the RCB. We are excited and proud to help our clients and will not hesitate to take further steps if the RCB imposes unjustified discipline. Thanks to our in-depth experience, we have an exceptional record of success. Call us for a consultation and case evaluation.

The Role of RCB

The California RCB’s mandate is protecting the general public from illegal or unqualified respiratory care practices and unethical behavior by licensed RCPs. The board also sensitizes the public on respiratory care and supports RCP education. The RCB aims to safeguard patients and the general public rather than advocating for RCP. Consequently, the board:

  • Regulates the issuing of RCP professional license.
  • Suspends or revokes licenses for severe offense.
  • Enforces the California Respiratory Care Practice Act, Business and Professions Code, and Code of Regulations.
  • Issues reprimand and citations.

If someone files a complaint against your license, the RCB may revoke or suspend it, but the aggravating or mitigating circumstances your case exhibits inform its decision.

What Do RCPs Do?

Also called inhalation or respiratory care therapists, RCPs offer crucial prescribed lifesaving and life support procedures that impact primary body organs. They provide treatment and relief to hundreds of thousands of patients who cannot breathe independently due to damaged lungs or breathing challenges.

Prevalent patients that RCPs attend to are those suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart attack, emphysema, stroke, bronchitis, asthma, drowning accidents, sleep apnea, cystic fibrosis, and congenital disabilities. Inhalation therapists can also attend to victims of trauma and surgery patients. Respiratory care also incorporates education, diagnostic testing, and rehab services. Common responsibilities for RCPs include:

  • Conducting asthma education and smoking cessation programs.
  • Performing stress-related tests and studies of the cardiovascular system.
  • Conducting rehab activities.
  • Treating patients with disruptive sleep patterns.
  • Evaluating critical signs of respiratory-related conditions.
  • Interpreting days from tests.
  • Obtaining and examining sputum specimens and chest X-rays.
  • Maintaining artificial airways (tracheostomy or intubation).
  • Measuring a patient's lungs' volume to check whether there is any impairment.
  • Drawing blood specimens and examining them for oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.
  • Monitoring patients' responses to drugs and equipment.
  • Administering medications.
  • Taking vital signs.
  • Administering life support through mechanical ventilation and accompanying patient testing, diagnosis, and monitoring.

While many RCPs work in hospital environments (intensive care units, emergency care units, cardiac care, and pediatric units), their services are usually also required in other facilities like:

  • Nursing facilities.
  • Laboratories,
  • Rehab centers.
  • Hyperbaric oxygen units.
  • Medical flight transportation.
  • Private homes.

Common Allegations Against RCPs That Can Prompt Disciplinary Action

It is not uncommon for RCPs to face complaints in California. These complaints can allege various misconduct from the licensee, including acting unprofessional or omission to act per the standard of care. Prevalent allegations you may face as an RCP include the following:

  • Billing fraud.
  • Insurance fraud or other fraudulent billing practices.
  • Sexual misconduct with patients.
  • Substance abuse that affects patients.
  • Negligence and gross negligence.
  • Acting in a way that threatens the public, the patient.
  • Failure to promptly complete an RCB-ordered program or evaluation.
  • Conviction of a crime substantially related to the functions, duties, and qualifications of RCB.
  • Unprofessional conduct.
  • Failing to adhere to suspensions or restrictions in your practice.
  • Consciously possessing, making, or using a piece of equipment or product in a way that defrauds drug testing meant to disclose the presence of an illegal drug.
  • Forging a document regarding your probationary conditions.
  • Unlicensed practice of respiratory care or aiding unlicensed practice.
  • Failure to satisfy the requirements for continuing education.
  • The board did not accept continuing education.
  • Continuing education fraud.

Some respiratory care practitioners face disciplinary action for conduct related to drugs. The RCB enforces these rules very aggressively to ensure patient safety. Should the board learn of the likelihood of misconduct, it will conduct a comprehensive probe. You will have your chance to narrate your side of the story. Preferably, it ought to be your lawyer who deals with the RCB, as they would know how to strive to prevent it from filing a formal Accusation against you.

Disciplinary Process by the RCB

The RCB will kick off its disciplinary process against you if it receives a complaint from a patient, another RCP, a law enforcement agency, the public, et cetera. In essence, anyone can file a complaint against you with the board. The disciplinary process can also commence if the board learns of disciplinary action imposed by another board in California (like the Department of Consumer Affairs, DCA) or a different state other than California or if the board receives notice of a conviction, arrest, or criminal charges against you.

Once the board receives a complaint against you, it will scrutinize it to see whether it has merits and whether the board has jurisdiction over it. If the complaint has merit and the board has jurisdiction, it will initiate an investigation into the complaint by sending it to its investigators.

The board will first notify you of the investigations when its investigator:

  • Contacts you for an interrogation or interview, or
  • Sends you an email or letter notifying you of the investigation or an accusation or offering you the chance to willingly enroll in the board's diversion program.

The board’s investigators include former law enforcement officers, qualified investigators with proven expertise in conducting interrogations, and forensic analysts. Usually, investigators pass as friendly and calmly ask you to tell your story. However, that is not the case in the actual sense, as they only do so to develop a compelling case.

Talk to legal counsel first when the board’s investigator reaches out to interview you due to a complaint. The lawyer will retrieve a copy of the formal complaint, help you prepare any statements, prepare you for the interview, and accompany you to the investigator for legal representation during the interview. You want your lawyer to accompany you to the investigator to help answer questions correctly and advise you when to remain silent.

With the appropriate counsel and advice, the case may end as early as the investigation stage for insufficient evidence or lack thereof. If the investigators do not dismiss the case, they will bring the findings to the board. The board may then decide to impose disciplinary action if the case is not severe or send the findings to the Attorney General’s Office, which will file an Accusation against you.

An Accusation refers to a formal complaint the deputy attorney general drafts, seeking to impose various disciplinary actions against you due to being found guilty of an offense or claims of other poor conduct such as alcohol or drug abuse or deflection from the stipulated standard of care.

Once an Accusation is filed against you, you will be served with the same, and you only have fifteen days to respond to the document. You respond by filing a Notice of Defense. If you fail to respond, the board will revoke your license by default. You want to hire a skilled lawyer for representation if the attorney general has filed an Accusation against you. Time is vitally important, and your livelihood and career are at stake.

Once you have filed a Notice of Defense, your case will be set for an administrative hearing in the Office of Administrative Hearings and presided over by the administrative law judge (ALJ). The board will present its case through the attorney general, and you will present yours through your attorney. Either side will be allowed to present evidence, witnesses, expert analysts, and cross-examine witnesses. Once the ALJ has heard the case, they will write their recommendations to the board. If you lose the case, the ALJ will propose the disciplinary action the board should impose. The board is not obligated to follow those recommendations as they are. That means it may reject, modify, or adopt them.

If you are not content with the ALJ’s decision after the hearing, you can file a writ of administrative mandate petition to the Superior Court. The writ requests that the Superior Court analyze and, if possible, reverse the ALJ's order.

Various Board-Imposed Disciplinary Actions

Once the case is over and the board has received recommendations from the ALJ, it will determine the disciplinary action to impose. Some of the disciplinary actions the RCB may impose include the following:

  • License revocation.
  • License suspension.
  • Licence probation.
  • Mandatory alcohol or drug rehabilitation.
  • Suspended punishment.
  • Public reprimand.
  • Fine and citation.

Note that you can not only lose your license, but the board might also order you to pay the costs of enforcement and investigation. Then, disciplinary actions go into the public record, impacting your odds of finding employment, new clients, or earning a living. Whereas some disciplinary actions are less severe and will permit you to keep working, any disciplinary action will damage your professional reputation.

Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances

Before the board decides on the disciplinary action to impose, it will consider the aggravating or mitigating factors in your case. The presence of aggravating factors will lead the board to impose severe disciplinary action, while mitigating circumstances will trigger less severe disciplinary action.

Prevalent aggravating circumstances the board considers include:

  • Whether the patient suffered harm.
  • Potential harm the patient could have suffered.
  • Existence of past violations on the record.
  • Breaching of the patient's or employer's trust.
  • Committing a crime around someone under 18 years.
  • Patterns of repeating violations under scrutiny.
  • Having a misdemeanor or felony conviction substantially related to your duties, functions, or qualifications on your criminal record.

Common mitigating circumstances your lawyer can argue to favor your case and for the board to consider include:

  • You reported your violation to the board.
  • You have taken rehab steps.
  • You did not intentionally commit the violation.
  • A significant period has elapsed since you committed the violation.
  • You have already taken corrective measures to prevent recurrences.
  • You have not repeated the violation for which you are facing disciplinary action or committed any other violation.
  • Your conduct did not injure anyone.
  • You acknowledge that you committed a mistake.
  • You do not have a past criminal or disciplinary history.

Petition to Reduce Penalties or Reinstate License

If the board revokes your license, it does not mean you are locked out of practicing your career. After a given period, you qualify to request the RCB to reinstate the license. Additionally, you can typically request that the probation sentence be terminated early or the terms and conditions be modified. Your lawyer can help you file the reinstatement petition or petition to reduce penalties. They can present mitigating factors and provide evidence of rehab to the RCB so you can return to the hospital or care facility as quickly as possible.

Find an Experienced Professional License Defense Attorney Near Me

If you risk losing your respiratory care practitioner license, do not rely on an unskilled professional license lawyer or navigate the administrative and legal process alone. The stakes are too high to do so. You want to contact a qualified and highly experienced professional license attorney for help.

At Santa Cruz License Attorney, we are experts in professional license defense. We understand how the Respiratory Care Board of California works since we routinely interact with them when representing clients facing investigation or possible punishment. You want to involve a lawyer for help immediately after you learn you are under investigation. Who better to call than us for you to seek help from? Contact us at 831-732-4390 to talk to one of our skilled attorneys, who will take you through a free consultation and case evaluation.