[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Deborah Snow

On March 25, 2008 state Auditor, Elaine Howle, released a report finding members of the California State Board of Chiropractic Examiners violated laws and took other inappropriate actions. This audit details serious flaws in the chiropractic board’s enforcement, licensing, continuing education, open meeting laws, and the actions of the chiropractic board members.

The auditor contends in the introduction of the audit that “in fact the chiropractic board’s handling of complaints is so flawed that it fails to promptly process its most serious complaints -- those it defines as having priority. Our review of 11 priority complaints revealed that it took the chiropractic board from one to three years to process nine of them, potentially leading to repeat offenses and a failure to protect the public.” The board’s primary responsibility is to protect California consumers against fraudulent, negligent, or incompetent chiropractic practices. The flaws that have existed in this board for years have overwhelmingly let down the people of California.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Deborah Snow

The Sacramento Bee as well as other California newspapers have run many articles lately concerning the California Chiropractic Board. Staff and Board member behavior reported includes illegal firing procedures, violating open meeting laws and a possible attempt to influence the judicial progress with an ongoing case against a chiropractor. I’m relieved that this board’s unethical behavior is finally in the public eye.

My own experience with this board came several years ago when I contacted them to file a complaint of misconduct against a practicing chiropractor. I had one phone interview with Catherine Hayes (then an enforcement employee) at my own initiative, and she told me that they didn’t like to refer cases of misconduct to their investigators without hard proof or third party witnesses in part due to the expense of paying their investigators.