Coloradans in Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Boulder, and everywhere else in the state lean on psychiatrists to keep them safe and sane. Few professionals are as integral to human health and well-being as mental health professionals, and this alone is why we step up for psychiatrists when their licenses are at stake.
Psychiatrists have to juggle the day-to-day responsibility of counseling patients, the demands of being a businessperson, and the delicate dance of disengaging (and managing their own psychological and emotional needs). Most do not understand just how difficult this balancing act is, and may not hesitate to file a thoughtless complaint against a psychiatrist who is battling daily to manage it all.
Yes, high standards are necessary in such a sensitive profession. Yet, psychiatrists should never see their reputation tattered due to a complaint that is meritless, exaggerated, or filed without due consideration.
Call the LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online. We will explain how we fight for psychiatrists when they need us the most—and why your defense can’t wait a moment longer.
Let’s Take a Moment to Consider What You Stand to Lose
Even patients who see a psychiatrist regularly might not realize that their counselor has a medical license. When we talk about the license a psychiatrist must fight to preserve, we’re talking about a medical license.
Why does this distinction matter? Well, simply obtaining a medical license is an indication of a psychiatrist’s:
- Desire to help those who are struggling, seeking to improve their quality of life, or striving to reach their full potential
- Ability to engage in rigorous intellectual pursuits and prove themselves worthy by passing tests
- Resiliency in the face of challenge and adversity
- Ethical nature, as medical students are evaluated not just for their aptitude but also their attitude and makeup
Psychiatrists invest years of their lives simply to gain entry to the field. By the time many psychiatrists receive notice of a complaint, they have invested many more years in helping their patients and building their professional reputation.
There is a lot on the line. If there was ever a time to turn to qualified professionals to help you out, it’s now. Let the LLF National Law Firm Team take control of your license defense.
Colorado Has a Somewhat Complicated Complaint Adjudication Process. Let the Professionals Help.
If you research how Colorado adjudicates complaints against licensed professionals (and psychiatrists in particular), you may become confused quickly. Various statutes and informational pages describe involvement from:
- The Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA)
- The Colorado Medical Board (CMB)
- The DORA Office of Investigations, which may be called upon in certain disciplinary cases
- The State Board of Psychologist Examiners
- The State Board of Licensed Professional Counselor Examiners
- The State Board of Addiction Counselor Examiners
While the LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team understands these various bodies and how they might be involved in a disciplinary matter, we will handle those details.
Here’s what you need to know: The Colorado Medical Board has ultimate authority to adjudicate complaints against psychiatrists, who hold medical degrees. State statutes state definitively that “each profession has a practice act that contains laws that govern a particular profession.”
The Process That May Unfold When Someone Files a Complaint Against a Colorado Psychiatrist
The Colorado Medical Practice Act dictates how the CMB takes disciplinary action against licensed medical professionals (or does not discipline them):
The Psychiatrist Is Notified of the Complaint and Expected to Respond in Writing
Receiving notice of a complaint can take you from mile-high to rock bottom in an instant. As soon as you are notified of a complaint, you should:
- Reach out to the LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team
- Do not contact the Board on your own, as professionals often do far more harm than good by trying to resolve a disciplinary matter on their own
- Refrain from speaking or posting about the case (unless you are speaking with members of our team)
You will probably experience intense emotions throughout the process ahead. Try to remain calm and, at the very least, refrain from acting out of emotion.
The President of the Board Assigns an Inquiry Panel to Investigate the Complaint
If Board representatives determine that the complaint warrants investigation, the President will assign an inquiry panel to conduct that investigation.
Investigations of professional complaints often require speaking with the complainant and the psychiatrist who is the subject of the complaint, interviewing witnesses, and considering various types of evidence.
The Investigator Provides Their Report to the Panel
The investigator’s report should carry weight with the Board and may be the primary basis by which the inquiry panel decides whether to move further with the complaint.
The Inquiry Panel Decides Whether a Formal Complaint Is Warranted
If the inquiry panel decides the psychiatrist likely violated the Medical Practice Act, it may issue a finding of responsibility. The inquiry panel may collectively discuss what sanctions would be appropriate based on:
- The details of the alleged offense
- Whether the psychiatrist is alleged to have endangered any patients
- The psychiatrist’s unique disciplinary history
- Any other factors the Board deems relevant
If the Board elects to move forward with discipline, the psychiatrist will likely have the chance to accept responsibility (and a disciplinary resolution).
A Consent Agreement Might Arise
Many professionals resolve complaints by accepting discipline from their licensing board. You might do this if you believe you could not avoid discipline through a hearing.
The LLF National Law Firm Team includes experienced, proven negotiators. We are used to dealing with both administrators and legal counsel for universities. If you are open to the idea of a disciplinary settlement, we will press to secure the best possible agreement.
The Psychiatrist May Undergo a Hearing
Hearings are the primary alternative to consent agreements. If you reject the idea of settling or do not receive an offer you find acceptable, you may plead your case in a trial-like setting. We will ensure you are prepared.
The hearing might unfold in front of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) or a hearing panel assembled by the president of the Board. The inquiry panel may choose which type of hearing should take place.
The Judge or Board Renders Its Decision
The individual or group tasked with deciding a psychiatrist’s disciplinary matter will render its decision after a hearing.
The Psychiatrist Has the Chance to Appeal
If the psychiatrist disagrees with a decision that negatively affects their career, they can generally appeal.
Colorado’s professional statutes are uncommonly dense, detailed, and complicated. The Medical Board has ample discretion to make judgment calls, and this can leave psychiatrists confused at a time when confusion can be costly.
Let the LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team make a labyrinthine process into a far simpler one. We will translate statutes into digestible terms, provide you with succinct, trustworthy guidance, and handle as much of your defense as we can.
What Accusations Can Lead a Psychiatrist to This Complex Disciplinary Ringer?
Whenever we defend a psychiatrist or other professional, we need to get to the bottom of the matter. This means identifying exactly why the psychiatrist is facing potential discipline and determining the veracity of the claim(s) against them.
We will review the complaint against you, and we may find that you have been accused of:
- Obtaining a psychiatrist license through fraudulent practices
- Engaging in professional practices beyond the scope of your license
- Endangering a patient
- Committing a medication-related error (intentionally or unintentionally)
- Violating patients’ Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rights
- Breaking the law
- Engaging in sexual misconduct
- Violating a patient’s personal boundaries
- Using alcohol or drugs dangerously or unethically
Psychiatrists are expected to be lucid, trustworthy, properly credentialed, ethical, and capable of bearing the heavy psychological and emotional load that the profession places on them. Yet, psychiatrists are mere humans.
When mistakes, misunderstandings, and even malice against the psychiatrist lead to a license being jeopardized, you owe it to yourself to defend that license with the help of the LLF National Law Firm.
Penalties a Psychiatrist Can Face If They’re Found to Have Violated the Medical Practice Act
When the CMB pursues discipline against a psychiatrist, it is an implicit indictment of that psychiatrist. Whether the Board believes the psychiatrist committed an innocent mistake, a systematic series of intentional wrongdoing, or some other offense on the spectrum of misconduct, the Board may feel it justified to:
- Revoke the psychiatrist’s license: In cases of egregious or repeat (alleged) misconduct, the Board may feel it necessary to remove the psychiatrist’s ability to practice. When a license is revoked, the burden to earn reinstatement falls on the psychiatrist.
- Suspend the psychiatrist’s license: While revocation of a license renders it invalid, suspending the license merely renders it inactive for a period of time. This measure, while still quite serious, lacks the sort of permanence that comes with revocation. Even so, suspending a psychiatrist’s license may cause immense financial and reputational harm.
- Limit what the psychiatrist can do: Restricting a psychiatrist’s license can massively impede the psychiatrist’s ability to do their job. The nature and extent of the restriction will dictate just how severe this sanction proves to be.
- Place conditions on the psychiatrist’s ability to practice (or return to practice): A psychiatrist may be permitted to continue practicing, but perhaps only if they complete additional training or if they submit to probationary terms. Depending on the nature of your unique circumstances, such measures could seem either acceptable (or even lenient) or heavy-handed.
- Impose a financial penalty: Fining a psychiatrist is one way to impose discipline.
- Reprimand the psychiatrist (formally or informally): While a formal reprimand is generally visible to the public, an informal reprimand is typically not. The former may be considered discipline, while the latter may qualify as a non-disciplinary measure.
Once you retain the LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team, we will review the range of outcomes you may face. We will be on the same page about which outcomes you might find tolerable (or even ideal), and which you would be unwilling to accept.
Some Psychiatrists Need Help, Not Punishment. The State May Provide That Help.
Psychiatrists carry a heavy psychological and emotional load. This may place them at risk of enduring their own psychological and emotional challenges, which could lead to substance misuse and other symptoms.
If you or any other psychiatrist needs help for substance use issues, mental health deficits, or other challenges for which treatment may be beneficial, we will help you understand the resources available to you.
What’s at Stake for a Psychiatrist When They Face a Formal Complaint?
It does not matter whether a psychiatrist calls Fort Collins, Greeley, Denver, Pueblo, or anywhere else in the state home. Psychiatrists accused of wrongdoing all face common challenges, which may include the prospect of:
- Losing their livelihood without warning, as measures like suspension and revocation of one’s license can prevent you from practicing (and earning an income from psychiatry)
- The altered trajectory of their career, as discipline may change a promising career into something else
- Facing financial burdens that affect not just the psychiatrist but also their dependents
- Experiencing the loss of identity, purpose, and joy that can come with the loss of one’s career (especially a career as fulfilling as psychiatry can be)
A psychiatrist might also face added distress knowing that their patients are going without their treatment. The patients themselves may suffer in a similarly serious way without the counseling they rely on.
The LLF National Law Firm Team wants to prevent these injurious outcomes for you, your loved ones, and the patients who rely on you. We will work toward this goal by:
- Gaining an honest, no-holds-barred accounting of the facts and evidence
- Creating a one-of-a-kind strategy entirely personalized to you
- Identifying the best-case goal for your case, as well as outcomes you might not consider ideal but could be willing to accept
- Preparing and fighting for you with the relentlessness that the LLF National Law Firm Team is recognized for
Call the LLF National Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online. Every psychiatrist deserves the caliber of defense that helps them rest easier during an unnerving time, and that’s what we will provide you.