[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Deborah Snow

On October 11, 2007 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Senate Bill SB 801, the Chiropractor Consumer Protection act. His signature would not have made this bill California law but would have merely placed its provisions on the June 2008 ballot to give the people of California the chance to decide if this reform of the Chiropractic Board meets their approval. The need for Board reform is more than obvious.

The California Board of Chiropractic Examiners has been the subject of media and legislative scrutiny since a board meeting on March 1, 2007 disintegrated to the point that law enforcement had to be called to try to restore order. During this meeting Richard Tyler D. C., the board’s chairman and close friend of the Governor, illegally fired the executive director, put himself in charge in a dual role as chairman and director, then evicted the state appointed deputy attorney and attempted to put a pro chiropractic attorney in her place.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Major AB 32 Implementation Measure--"Clean Car Discount"--Stalls on Tie Vote, to be Reconsidered Today

Last Session Today on Assembly Bills to Meet Deadline--Less Than 50 Bills Remain on Assembly Docket, but Includes Some Hot Ones

Assemblymember Ruskin on the floor in the middle of a group of those he is trying to persuade to vote for AB 493 on clean car rebates

By Frank D. Russo

The Assembly train picked up steam yesterday as they disposed of 118 bills and have between 32 and 49 bills that may be taken up today. Among the items to be taken up today is AB 8 (Nunez), the Assembly Speaker's near universal health Care bill, death with dignity (AB 374-Berg), AB 5 (Wolk) on flood protection, AB 1554 (Jones) on health insurance rate regulation ala Prop 103, and other hotly contest bills.

[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.