Certified speech pathologists, audiologists, and hearing aid dispensers must be professional in their service delivery and have reputable character. This is among the conditions they receive to obtain certification after obtaining the right skills to offer services to people in need. The California Board of Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, & Hearing Dispensers has strict qualifications for professionals who need licensing to ensure the public always enjoys quality, effective, professional, and safe services. These requirements are necessary for your livelihood and license to be safe.

Sadly, you cannot protect yourself from complaints and allegations from dissatisfied customers, jealous colleagues, or employers. These can bring claims against you that could cause you to lose your professional license and a career you have built over the years. You can fight the allegations to protect your license and livelihood with the assistance of a skilled license defense lawyer, though. We help licensed professionals like you fight for their careers at Riverside License Attorney. Thus, you can contact us for advice and legal guidance if you are under the board’s investigation in Riverside.

Speech-Language Pathologists

These are professionals who help people whose speaking abilities are impaired. Although speaking comes inherently to most people, some people experience difficulties developing speech, necessitating a professional’s assistance to enable them to build speech for effective communication. Speech-language pathologists are also called speech therapists. They work closely with individuals who have not yet developed their basic communication skills to start them off by helping develop skills they can grow with time to become perfect communicators, like everyone else. These include people facing difficulties pronouncing words correctly, those with fluency or speech rhythm issues, and other similar disorders.

Sometimes, speech pathologists assist individuals in adjusting or changing to a particular accent or learning a new one for easy communication. This means they must be well-learned professionals who understand how speech develops and how people can overcome different speech-related difficulties. Their expertise makes it easy to identify the problem for effective diagnosis and recommend the best treatment or approach to overcome the individual challenge. They engage clients as a group or individually based on their underlying needs.

Unfortunately, not everyone trained to be a speech pathologist obtains a certificate to render their services to the public in California. This is because the Board of Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, & Hearing Aid Dispensers has strict qualifying criteria, which only a few meet. You need excellent skills, a good reputation, and an understanding of the laws governing your profession to qualify. Even after qualifying for a license, you are constantly at risk of losing your license. If you violate your standard of operation, the board can suspend or cancel your license, leaving you without a job.

If you face professional misconduct allegations, you can involve a competent attorney. Your attorney will explain the gravity of your claims, possible disciplinary action by the board, and how you can fight for your career.

Modern Audiologists

Professional audiologists are experts in hearing-related conditions. They diagnose and manage hearing issues to enable people to hear and comprehend conversations and communicate effectively. With so many people suffering from hearing problems, these professionals are busy. They treat people born with hearing issues and those whose hearing problems develop after birth. Audiologists also handle balance issues, considering that hearing issues affect a person’s balance in how a person is created.

It takes specialized training to understand the cause and treatment of different hearing disorders. Thus, trained audiologists are highly educated professionals. You also must understand the state and federal laws that affect your professionalism to acquire a professional audiologist license. The board is very particular about violations that risk your career or license. Thus, you must be careful about those if you want to retain the ability to discharge services and earn a living as an audiologist.

Sadly, the board receives allegations against licensed audiologists every time. You could lose your license when the bard investigates the claims and discovers proof of unprofessionalism or incompetence. However, a competent license attorney can assist you in defending your reputation and career.

Hearing Aid Dispensers

Some individuals with hearing conditions require a hearing device to hear, understand conversations, and communicate effectively. They need to seek or speak to a hearing aid dispenser to determine the gravity of their condition and the exact device they need. Hearing aid dispensers have specialized training on various hearing devices or aids needed by people with diverse hearing conditions. They diagnose, recommend, and issue hearing disorders to people who need them.

This means you need expert training on hearing aids and disorders to make proper diagnoses and recommendations. Training for hearing aid dispensers takes years, after which you need on-the-job training to acquire experience before you can handle clients independently. That length of training costs a lot of money. Thus, you must defend your license well because losing it will be a significant loss for you and your dependents.

Unsatisfied clients or jealous coworkers can report you for a wrong diagnosis, incompetence, or unprofessionalism. Accusations like these put your livelihood at risk. However, a skilled attorney can help you approach your case carefully and skillfully to avoid severe consequences for your actions or inactions. They can compel the board to dismiss your allegations for lack of evidence or take a more lenient action against you.

The California Board of Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, & Hearing Aid Dispensers

From an outward angle, the board’s primary role is issuing licenses to qualified speech pathologists, hearing aid experts, and audiologists. However, this is just one of the things that the board does and not its primary mandate. The board was created to protect public interests by ensuring the public enjoys quality, safe, and professional services from certified speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and hearing device dispensers. Anything else the board does is geared towards this primary mandate. For example, by restricting licensing, the board ensures that only proficient professionals offer these services to members of the public.

Before licensing healthcare professionals, the board must ensure they have the required training in their area of expertise. For example, a speech-language pathologist must be trained to diagnose and recommend treatment for different speech-related conditions. Hearing aid dispensers must also demonstrate an in-depth understanding of varying hearing conditions and hearing devices that could improve these conditions. Additionally, the board must ensure these professionals understand their standard of operations and the statutes that affect their profession. They should be willing to abide by these laws and maintain high professionalism to retain their license.

The board discusses various violations these professionals must not commit on its website. For example, licensed healthcare professionals must not be engaged in drug-related crimes or any sexual misconduct, as this affects their professionalism. The board provides different disciplinary actions against professionals who violate their standard of operation. The disciplines vary in severity, from the most lenient to the severest. The board determines the proper discipline to use against you based on the details of your violation and your track record of performance. The board can suspend or revoke your license if you habitually demonstrate unprofessionalism.

Common Allegations Speech Pathologists, Audiologists, and Hearing Aid Dispensers Face in California

The board has a long list on its website of allegations that could cause it to take action against you. Some of these allegations are lenient, resulting in a lenient course of action. However, the board can issue a grave penalty for a lenient violation if it is your second or subsequent violation within a particular time. Examples of these violations are as follows:

  • An accusation of drug or alcohol abuse, especially when treating a patient

  • Being fraudulent, for example, committing insurance fraud or using fraud to obtain or renew your license

  • Failing to remain professional with patients, families, colleagues, or employers

  • Letting untrained or unlicensed assistants work under your supervision

  • Asking or offering to pay for referrals

  • Receiving or demanding kickbacks to issue or recommend a particular treatment or gadget

  • Using false and misleading advertisements to obtain clients

  • Being accused of incompetence, ordinary negligence, or gross negligence when offering or denying a service

  • Having a criminal record that potentially impacts your competence or professionalism

  • Being investigated by another licensing board or government body from California or another state

When the board receives a complaint, it starts by determining the authenticity of that allegation before notifying you of a pending investigation. If the claim is unsubstantiated, the board will not pursue it. This means you will not hear about it from the board or anywhere else. However,. If the board believes that the accusation is credible, it will start an investigation. The board will notify you about it, a pending investigation, and the hearing date. You must appear before it on the hearing date to answer the allegations. The board will decide based on its findings and your defense.

Having a competent attorney by your side improves your chances of obtaining a favorable outcome in your case. Thus, you should speak to an attorney right after receiving the board’s notice to prepare well before the hearing date. Discuss the claims against you with your attorney to understand their severity and possible outcome. A skilled attorney can determine the evidence the board has against you to prepare well for your defense. Remember how long it took and how much it cost to build your career to the level you are at. This should motivate you to work well on your defense to avoid losing your license.

Possible Outcomes of an Administrative Procedure by California Board of Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, & Hearing Aid Dispensers

After reviewing your case and the evidence presented by the board and your attorney, the board can make one of these two decisions:

  • Dismiss the allegation for lack of suitable grounds or insufficient evidence to take disciplinary action

  • Choose the most suitable disciplinary action according to the board’s guidelines on its website

If the licensing board dismisses your allegations, you will continue discharging your duties as if the administrative procedure did not occur in the first place. However, if it finds you guilty, it will take action against you. The disciplinary action it takes will depend on the gravity of your allegations and whether this is your first or subsequent violation.

If the allegation is minor and your first, the board can issue you a citation or reprimand you through a letter. Citations and reprimands do not severely impact your professional license and career, but they can damage your reputation. This is because the board issues them through its public website, which is accessible to all people, including your current and future employers and clients. You could lose your job or clients due to a public citation or reprimand. A damaged reputation could also hinder your career growth. However, your attorney can prevent it by compelling the board to dismiss your allegations or to do away with the public discipline.

In more severe cases, the board can cancel your license. This means canceling your license so you cannot be a speech and language pathologist, audiologist, or hearing aid expert again. This is a significant blow and loss, especially if it took years and cost you a considerable amount to build your career. It also means you will need a fresh start to earn a living again. However, an experienced attorney knows the right strategies to avoid this. They can push for case dismissal or compel the board to use a more reasonable discipline, like probation or license suspension.

Find Reliable Riverside License Defense Services Near Me

You need a reliable license defense lawyer when you are on the verge of losing your professional license because of an unfair or unsubstantiated allegation in Riverside. What you need is an assurance of a favorable outcome for your case. A reliable attorney will work closely with you to explain the administrative procedure, your options, and the best defense strategies for your career or license.

At Riverside License Attorney, attorneys have extensive experience handling cases against professional license holders. We understand how crucial your speech-language pathology, audiology, or hearing aid dispenser license is to you and those who rely on your service. We will utilize our best skills and defense so you can retain your livelihood and license. Call us at 951-404-0569 to begin the legal process with us.