California Code of Regulations › Title 16 - Professional and Vocational Regulations › Division 4 - State Board of Chiropractic Examiners › Article 2 - Practice of Chiropractic › Section 317 - Unprofessional Conduct

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
The board shall take action against any holder of a license
				  who is guilty of unprofessional conduct which has been brought to its
				  attention, or whose license has been procured by fraud or misrepresentation or
				  issued by mistake.
Unprofessional conduct includes, but is not limited to, the
				  following:
(a) Gross
				negligence;
(b) Repeated negligent
				acts;
(c) Incompetence;
(d) The administration of treatment or the
				use of diagnostic procedures which are clearly excessive as determined by the
				customary practice and standards of the local community of licensees;
(e) Any conduct which has endangered or is
				likely to endanger the health,welfare, or safety of the public;
(f) The administering to oneself, of any
				controlled substance, or the use of any dangerous drug or of alcoholic
				beverages to the extent or in a manner as to be dangerous or injurious to
				oneself, or to any other person or to the public, or to the extent that the use
				impairs the ability of the person to conduct with safety to the public the
				practice authorized by the license;
(g) Conviction of a crime which is
				substantially related to the qualifications, functions or duties of a
				chiropractor;
(h) Conviction of any
				offense, whether felony or misdemeanor, involving moral turpitude, dishonesty,
				physical violence or corruption. The board may inquire into the circumstances
				surrounding the commission of the crime in order to fix the degree of
				discipline or to determine if such conviction was of an offense involving moral
				turpitude, dishonesty, physical violence or corruption. A plea or verdict of
				guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere is deemed to be a conviction within the
				meaning of the board's disciplinary provisions, irrespective of a subsequent
				order under the provisions of Section
				1203.4 of the
				Penal Code. The board may order a license to be suspended or revoked, or may
				decline to issue a license upon the entering of a conviction or judgement in a
				criminal matter.
(i) The conviction
				of more than one misdemeanor or any felony involving the use, consumption, or
				self-administration of any dangerous drug or alcoholic beverage, or any
				combination of those substances.
(j) The violation of any of the provisions of
				law regulating the dispensing or administration of narcotics, dangerous drugs,
				or controlled substances;
(k) The
				commission of any act involving moral turpitude, dishonesty, or corruption,
				whether the act is committed in the course of the individual's activities as a
				license holder, or otherwise;
(l)
				Knowingly making or signing any certificate or other document relating to the
				practice of chiropractic which falsely represents the existence or nonexistence
				of a state of facts;
(m) Violating
				or attempting to violate, directly or indirectly, or assisting in or abetting
				in the violation of, or conspiring to violate any provision or term of the Act
				or the regulations adopted by the board thereunder;
(n) Making or giving any false statement or
				information in connection with the application for issuance of a
				license;
(o) Impersonating an
				applicant or acting as a proxy for an applicant in any examination required by
				the board for the issuance of a license or certificate;
(p) The use of advertising relating to
				chiropractic which violates section
				17500
				of the Business and Professions Code;
(q) The participation in any act of fraud or
				misrepresentation;
(r) Except as
				may be required by law, the unauthorized disclosure of any information about a
				patient revealed or discovered during the course of examination or
				treatment;
(s) The employment or
				use of persons known as cappers or steerers to obtain business;
(t) The offering, delivering, receiving or
				accepting of any rebate, refund, commission, preference, patronage, dividend,
				discount or other consideration as compensation or inducement for referring
				patients to any person;
(u)
				Participation in information or referral bureaus which do not comply with
				section 317.1 of the
				regulations;
(v) Entering into an
				agreement to waive, abrogate, or rebate the deductible and/or co-payment
				amounts of any insurance policy by forgiving any or all of any patient's
				obligation for payment thereunder, when used as an advertising and/or marketing
				procedure, unless the insurer is notified in writing of the fact of such
				waiver, abrogation, rebate, or forgiveness in each such instance.
In all insurance billings where a waiver of a deductible or a
				  co-payment is intended as an advertising and/or marketing procedure, the
				  chiropractor's statement and insurance billing shall contain the following
				  statement:
I/WE WAIVE CO-PAYMENT AND/OR DEDUCTIBLES. IT IS MY/OUR
				  INTENTION TO DO THE FOLLOWING: (Indicate one choice below)
( ) BILL THE PATIENT $____________________ AFTER RECEIPT FROM
				  YOU OF $____________________.
( ) WAIVE ANY FURTHER PAYMENT FROM THE PATIENT AFTER RECEIPT
				  FROM YOU OF $____________________.
( ) IN CASES WHERE PREDETERMINATION OF INSURANCE BENEFITS IS
				  NOT POSSIBLE, I/WE PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING WRITTEN EXPLANATION OF MY/OUR BILLING
				  INTENTIONS:
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
(w) Not referring a patient to a physician
				and surgeon or other licensed health care provider who can provide the
				appropriate management of a patient's physical or mental condition, disease or
				injury within his or her scope of practice, if in the course of a diagnostic
				evaluation a chiropractor detects an abnormality that indicates that the
				patient has a physical or mental condition, disease, or injury that is not
				subject to appropriate management by chiropractic methods and techniques. This
				subsection shall not apply where the patient states that he or she is already
				under the care of such other physician and surgeon or other licensed health
				care provider who is providing the appropriate management for that physical or
				mental condition, disease, or injury within his or her scope of
				practice.
(x) The offer,
				advertisement, or substitution of a spinal manipulation for
				vaccination.
(y)
				[Reserved]
1. New
				  subsection (t) filed 12-12-78; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 78,
				  No. 50). For prior history, see Register 77, No. 49.
2. Amendment of
				  subsections (p) and (t) filed 7-30-87; operative 8-29-87 (Register 87, No.
				  32).
3. New subsection (u) filed 6-5-90; operative 7-5-90 (Register
				  90, No. 30).
4. Change without regulatory effect amending subsection
				  (u) filed 8-13-90 pursuant to section
				  100, title 1, California Code of
				  Regulations (Register 90, No. 43).
5. Amendment of subsection (u)
				  filed 3-27-92; operative 4-27-92 (Register 92, No. 14).
6. Change
				  without regulatory effect amending subsection (h) and NOTE filed 8-17-92
				  pursuant to title 1, section
				  100, California Code of
				  Regulations (Register 92, No. 34).
7. New subsection (v) filed
				  4-16-93; operative 5-17-93 (Register 93, No. 16).
8. New subsections
				  (w) and (x) and amendment of NOTE filed 6-21-93 as an emergency; operative
				  6-21-93 (Register 93, No. 26). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted
				  to OAL 10-19-93 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on
				  the following day.
9. New subsection (y) filed 9-27-93 as an
				  emergency; operative 9-27-93 (Register 93, No. 40). A Certificate of Compliance
				  must be transmitted to OAL by 1-25-94 or emergency language will be repealed by
				  operation of law on the following day.
10. Repealed new subsections
				  (w) and (x) and amendment of NOTE operative 6-21-93 by operation of law on
				  10-20-93 (Register 93, No. 46).
11. Reinstatement of new subsections
				  (w) and (x) and amendment of NOTE, repealed 10-20-93, refiled 11-3-93 as an
				  emergency; operative 11-8-93 (Register 93, No. 46). A Certificate of Compliance
				  must be transmitted to OAL by 3-8-94 or emergency language will be repealed by
				  operation of law on the following day.
12. Certificate of Compliance
				  as to 11-3-93 order, including repeal of subsection (x), transmitted to OAL
				  11-10-93 and filed 12-23-93 (Register 93, No. 52).
13. Editorial
				  correction of HISTORY 11 (Register 93, No. 52).
14. Certificate of
				  Compliance as to 9-27-93 order transmitted to OAL 1-25-94; disapproved by OAL
				  3-9-94 and reinstatement of section as it existed prior to 9-27-93 emergency
				  amendment operative 3-9-94 (Register 2004, No. 14).
15. Amendment of
				  subsection (h) filed 7-29-96; operative 8-28-96 (Register 96, No.
				  31).
16. Amendment of subsections (f) and (h), new subsection (i)
				  and subsection relettering filed 4-5-2000; operative 5-5-2000 (Register 2000,
				  No. 14).
17. Amendment of subsection (h) filed 7-3-2003; operative
				  8-2-2003 (Register 2003, No. 27).
18. Editorial correction repealing
				  subsection (z), adding HISTORY 14 and renumbering HISTORIES (Register 2004, No.
				  14).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
					 1000-
					 4(b)
					 and
					 1000-
					 10,
					 Business and Professions Code (Chiropractic Initiative Act of California,
					 Stats. 1923, p. lxxxviii). Reference: Sections
					 1000-
					 4(b),
					 and
					 1000-
					 10,
					 Business and Professions Code (Chiropractic Initiative Act of California,
					 Stats. 1923, p. lxxxviii).