Training to be a respiratory care practitioner (RCP) takes years of education, exams, and practical application. Additionally, you require a professional license via the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Respiratory Care Board (RCB) to practice in California. Obtaining an RCP license is an intricate process, but losing it is easy. A simple mistake or complaint from a patient can lead the board to suspend or revoke your license or subject it to other disciplinary action.

If the RCB notifies you that it is contemplating taking an adverse action against your license or if it has denied your license application, you need a skilled RCP license defense lawyer. As an RCP, you have devoted your life to assisting others. Therefore, when an accusation of professional misconduct arises, facing allegations or charges that may bar you from practicing the career you have worked so hard to acquire is particularly painful.

At Kern County License Attorney, we understand all the necessary steps to defend your RCP license, enabling you to keep on practicing the career you love. Do not hesitate to call us for a consultation.

RCP Roles and Duties

RCPs are also called respiratory care therapists or inhalation therapists. Their job is to preserve the breath of life by treating patients with breathing challenges or who cannot breathe completely due to impaired or non-functioning lungs. They offer important lifesaving and life support procedures affecting primary body organs.

RCPs work with patients of all ages, from infants to older people. Common patients that RCPs care for suffer from congenital disabilities, stroke, bronchitis, emphysema, heart attack, cystic fibrosis, sleep apnea, drowning accidents, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma. They can additionally treat trauma victims and surgery patients.

Apart from treating patients, these professionals also maintain and operate ventilators, respirators, and other breathing equipment. Respiratory care also involves rehab services, diagnostic testing, and education. Other common RCP responsibilities are:

  • Administering medication
  • Monitoring how patients respond to equipment and medication
  • Acquiring and studying blood specimens to check oxygen and carbon dioxide levels
  • Maintaining artificial airways (tracheostomy or intubation)
  • Measuring patients’ lungs’ volume to check for any impairment
  • Drawing and analyzing sputum specimens and conducting chest-related X-rays
  • Performing cardiopulmonary system studies and stress tests
  • Evaluating crucial respiratory condition signs.
  • Interpreting test data
  • Conducting rehab activities
  • Conducting asthma education and smoking cessation

Even though RCPs work in hospital units (pediatric, intensive care, cardiac care, and emergency units), they can additionally work in different areas, such as laboratories, private homes, nursing facilities, hyperbaric oxygen units, and medical flight transport.

The California RCB Mission

The California RCB protects the general public from unauthorized or unqualified respiratory care practices and unprofessional conduct by licensees. The board also creates public awareness of respiratory care and supports the education and development of respiratory care therapists.

The board's mission is to safeguard patients instead of helping practitioners. Consequently, the RCB:

  • Issues, denies, and restricts RCP licenses
  • Enforces the California Respiratory Care Practice Act, Business and Profession Code, and Code of Regulations
  • Suspends or revokes licenses for serious violations
  • Issues citations and public reprimands

If the board receives a complaint against you, it could revoke or suspend your license. Nevertheless, the aggravating or mitigating circumstances and the nature of the crime determine its decision.

The Stages of Respiratory Care Practitioner License Defense

RCP license defense entails defending license holders at the six stages of the disciplinary process: complaint filing, investigations and interviews, Accusation filing, administrative proceedings, appeal, and reinstatement.

Complaint Filing

The RCP license defense process starts when the RCB receives any of these notifications:

  • Disciplinary actions taken by another body, like the California Department of Consumer Affairs or another state
  • A complaint from another practitioner, patient, or any other party
  • Notification of criminal charges, a conviction, or arrest

Anyone can file a complaint online, including competitors and anonymous parties, claiming you have violated a law, professional standards, or healthcare regulations. If the board reviews the complaint and finds that it falls under its jurisdiction, it will refer the matter to its investigation unit for further investigations.

Investigations and Interviews

You will generally first be notified of the investigation when the board's investigator communicates with you to schedule an interrogation or when you receive a letter or email that:

  • Gives legal notification of an accusation or investigation,
  • Seeks permission to release your employment or
  • Offers you a chance to join the RCB’s diversion program voluntarily

RCB investigators include forensic analysts, ex-police officers, and skilled investigators with several years of expertise conducting interrogations and investigations. These parties usually seem friendly, calmly asking for your account of events. In the real sense, they are usually meticulously developing a case against you.

Should an investigator contact you for an interview, consult a lawyer before going for the interview. The lawyer will assist you in carefully developing a response and strategy that do not accidentally weaken your defenses or incriminate you. Representation by a skilled license defense lawyer can significantly increase your chances of solving your case at the end of the investigation stage without imposing disciplinary action.

Based on the investigation's outcome, the board may decide to drop the case for lack of evidence or basis or send it to the attorney general's office to continue with the disciplinary process.

Accusation

After the RCB files an official Accusation against you, the accusation is publicized on the board's website and becomes a public record. An Accusation refers to an official pleading document drafted by the Attorney General’s Office. It outlines why the board wishes to revoke or suspend your RCP license. It also includes a statement for cost recovery, stating the board's enforcement and investigation costs that you will need to reimburse.

Based on the facts of your case, your attorney may take these steps to develop a compelling defense and demonstrate to the RCB why it is unjustified to take disciplinary action:

  • File any necessary paperwork to protect your right to defend yourself
  • Comprehensively review all the facts surrounding your case and the available
  • Review the laws and regulations given the claimed misconduct
  • Obtain an expert analysis of any relevant records
  • Consult any necessary experts on your behalf
  • If necessary, obtain a rehab plan and psychological evaluation from an expert
  • Retain an investigator to collect any required evidence or find witnesses
  • Obtain all the required records
  • Devise a rehab plan if you have a substance dependency problem
  • Evaluate any possible criminal responsibility and how it will affect your defense strategy
  • Meet with investigators to submit information that disproves the allegations or lowers the seriousness of the claimed offense.

Once the attorney general or their deputy files an Accusation, the Accusation will be served to you, and you have to respond to it within 15 days by filing a Notice of Defense with the board. Failure to do so might lead to losing your RCP license by default. Your lawyer can help you file a response to the Accusation against you and do the following as part of the defense:

  • Hold negotiations—your attorney can work with the attorney general's office and the RCB to negotiate a favorable plea deal or dismiss the case. If the parties strike a plea deal you consent to, they (the board) will execute a settlement and disciplinary order to solve the case. The disciplinary order will state the conditions you will obey to continue practicing.
  • Prepare for the administrative hearing. If your lawyer, the board, and the attorney general's office do not reach a favorable settlement, they (your lawyer) can vigorously defend you during a hearing held at the OAH (Office of the Administrative Hearings).

Administrative Proceedings

If your case is not solved at the Accusation stage, it will be set for administrative proceedings at the OAH. These are legal proceedings presided over by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), who decides the merits and outcome of the case against you.

Your lawyer, the board's lawyer, and a judge will attend the proceedings. The defense and accusing sides will have the chance to argue their cases and submit evidence. After the hearing, the judge assesses the evidence presented and has thirty days to recommend to the board what to do. In most cases, the judge may recommend license retention with some probationary terms. The board may or may not choose to follow these recommendations. Some of the disciplinary actions the board may impose include the following:

  • Interim suspension—an emergency directive an ALJ may issue to suspend your license immediately if permitting you to keep practicing would harm the public.
  • Fines and citations—generally, the board can impose a fine or issue a citation for minor violations.
  • Public reprimand —a formal warning that your actions are unacceptable and you must correct them
  • Probation—the board can place your license on probation as a disciplinary action. That means you can continue to practice, but your practice is restricted. If you are on probation, the board may want you to follow certain terms and conditions.
  • License suspension or revocation—this is the most severe disciplinary action your license can face. If your license is suspended, you will be barred from practicing for some time. On the other hand, a revocation means you cannot practice indefinitely.

Appeal

If the judge has made an unfavorable decision at the administrative proceedings, a writ of mandate (writ of administrative mandamus) provides an avenue to appeal the ruling in the Superior Court. Usually, you have thirty days from when the judge made their ruling to bring the writ of mandate petition to the Superior Court.

A writ of administrative mandamus could provide relief if you believe errors were committed in the ALJ’s ruling. If a writ petition does not yield favorable results, the next step is to go to the California Appellate Court. Appeals are usually highly technical, with intricate timelines, scope of review, and evidentiary limitations.

Penalty Relief or License Reinstatement

You can petition the RCB to reduce penalties, terminate probation early, or reinstate your license if it was revoked. The following are the timelines involved:

  • You can petition to reinstate your license thirty-six months after the revocation or surrender date. For revocation or surrender resulting from impairment because of physical or mental illness, you may file the partition a year from when the board imposed the penalty.
  • You can petition the board to terminate your probation sentence early, twenty-four months from when the board imposed the probation or issued the license in probationary status for a probation period of three or more years. If the probation period is two years or less, you can petition 12 months after the board has imposed the disciplinary action.
  • You can petition to modify the penalties against you after a minimum of 12 months have elapsed from the date the board imposed the punishment or issued the license in disciplinary status.

The board may deny any petition you file within two years from the date of the previous decision without an argument or hearing. Generally, the board will not consider your petition if:

  • You are serving a sentence for a criminal violation, including court-ordered parole or probation.
  • You face an unresolved accusation or petition to cancel probation
  • You are required to comply with the sex offender registration requirement (per PC 290)

Allegations That Could Result In Disciplinary Action

Common violations that you can be accused of as an RCP include the following:

  • Any act that threatens your patient, the public, or your failure to complete any board-ordered program or evaluation promptly
  • Attending to patients when intoxicated with drugs or alcohol
  • Commiting a minimum of two probation violations
  • Commiting a crime that is a violation of the Business and Professions Code or state or federal law
  • Testing positive for drugs
  • Failing to obey RCP suspensions or restrictions
  • Falsifying documents regarding your probation terms
  • A conviction of a crime substantially related to the duties, functions, and qualifications of an RCP

Find a Competent RCP License Defense Attorney Near Me

At Kern County License Attorney, we are experts in developing winning strategies to defend your license against disciplinary action. We will also represent you in penalty relief and license reinstatement petitions if you lose during the OAH proceedings. Contact us at 805-702-8560 to assess your legal options and how we can protect you at all stages of your RCP license defense.