Tag Archive for: Missouri Professional Licensing Defense Lawyer

Danielle Sanger, Esq.: Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Providing Vigorous Defense of Counselors Facing Professional Discipline

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Counselors provide a tremendous service to the community. The significant contribution counselors make to our well-being cannot be measured. Counselors must strictly adhere to the rules governing their profession but, as any psychologist, licensed social worker, addiction counselor, or addiction specialist will tell you, they are human and make mistakes. A mistake should not ruin your career, your livelihood, and your family if you face professional disciple as a consequence of your error. Resist the temptation to represent yourself. You need an attorney who stakes her reputation on zealously advocating for professional licensees facing professional discipline.

Why You Need an Attorney to Represent You

There is an adage in the law that says the lawyer who represents himself or herself has a fool for a client. There is plenty of truth in that statement. Although lawyers are educated and experienced in the substantive and procedural law of a jurisdiction, they should not represent themselves when they face legal trouble. So too, a professional licensee should not represent them or go “pro se.” The reason is simple: you cannot think objectively when your legal interests are at stake. You need someone to advocate for you, to look at and analyze the evidence, and then explain the consequences, your rights, and defenses available to you.

So often highly educated and intelligent people believe that they can talk their way out of trouble or they believe help is unnecessary because they are smart and can comprehend the allegations which they face. When emotions run high and fear sets in, a person’s judgment can quickly become clouded despite the level of intelligence, educational attainment, or formal training. Having an advocate whose sole responsibility is your to look out for your best interest will give you the best opportunity to defend against the allegations you face.

What Rights Does A Person In The Counseling Professions Have When Facing Professional Discipline?

You are guaranteed several rights when facing professional discipline. Several sources of law grant those rights. They are substantial rights. An attorney well versed in the procedure involved in professional licensing hearings and administrative hearings will give you an advantage over a lawyer who has less experience.

At the outset, you have the right to a hearing before the state punishes you. At the hearing, you are guaranteed the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses appearing against you. Also, you have the right to have the case heard by a neutral and detached magistrate or hearings officer. Furthermore, you have the opportunity to examine all of the evidence the state has against you. You have the absolute right to call witnesses and testify on your own behalf. You also have the right to appeal adverse rulings against you to a judge after you have exhausted all of your administrative rights.

Possible Sanctions for Professional Misconduct

The nature of the punishment depends on the severity of the conduct and your record of previous discipline. At bottom, the penalty meted out by the licensing authority should not be arbitrary or capricious. Instead, the sanction must be consonant with the protection of the public. You could face censure or public reprimand for less serious offenses. For more egregious offenses or repeat offenses, you could receive probation with restrictions on your practice, suspension, or revocation of your license.

Your professional licensing attorney will fight to have the least restrictive sanction imposed upon you if you are found responsible for misconduct or admit to fault.

Do Not Hesitate Seeking Legal Help from a Dedicated Professional Licensing Attorney

Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger, Esq. has vast experience vigorously defending the rights and livelihoods of professional licensees facing disciplinary charges. Call Attorney Sanger at 785-979-4353 to schedule an appointment for a free consultation today.

Medical Professionals Have An Ethical Duty To Prevent Assaults In Their Practice

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According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, law enforcement officers in Fulton County Georgia charged a man with crimes related to sexually assaulting women who were under anesthesia. The male nurse was booked into the Fulton County jail on allegations of two counts of sexual battery and two counts of custodial sexual assault. The man turned himself into the jail approximately one week after a warrant issued for his arrest.

The nurse was an employee of a healthcare facility that performed endoscopies. Law enforcement alleges that the nurse groped two while they were under the effects of anesthesia. To this point, only two women have come forward. There may be more victims.

The allegations came to light when a pastor at a local church gave Sandy Springs police information that the nurse molested several women at the clinic, all of whom were suffering from the effects of anesthesia. The pastors told police that they learned the nurse began looking that the women in an inappropriate manner, lifted the women’s shirts, removed their bras, and fondled their breasts.

The pastors learned of this information from conversations with the male nurse allegedly. The pastors spoke with a police officer initially then were taken to speak with a detective. The detective issued a warrant for the male nurse’s arrest after the interview with the pastors. One police officer summed up the gravity of the situation nicely by stating that the crime was particularly egregious because the patients believed they were in a place in which they were completely safe. There was no cause for concern, initially. Allowing yourself to be placed under anesthesia requires a level of trust on the patient’s behalf.

The nurse’s employer immediately fired him upon learning of the allegations. The facility’s lawyer stated that his clients were shocked by the allegations. Through its counsel, the healthcare facility said that they perform background checks for all of their employees before hiring them, including the nurse against whom the allegations were made. The facility also pledged to cooperate with police in their investigation. Law enforcement authorities are asking for anyone with additional information to come forward.

In Kansas, each physician has an obligation to practice medicine competently and honorably. Furthermore, any surgical procedures which physicians perform at their office instead a hospital must be under conditions that are sanitary and safe, according to Kansas State regulations. The regulations specify that every doctor’s office is satisfied regulatory standards including preventing foreseeable harm to patients, staff, and to the public. Additionally, physician’s offices must be constructed in a manner that prevents unauthorized individuals from entering certain areas of the office such as recovery rooms and patient record rooms. So important is the safety of patients that the regulations require a physician to report any issues they experience with patient and staff safety.

Missouri’s Healing Arts Practice Act also obligates physicians and other healthcare professionals to protect their patients’ physical and mental well-being. Included in that duty would be the obligation to protect a patient from being physically attacked in the doctor’s office. The physician has a concomitant obligation to protect patients from physical harm as they do to protect the patient from being harmed by malpractice.

Doctors offices should take all reasonable measures to determine who their employees are by performing background checks, even if they are licensed by a state board of registration. Additionally, medical offices should have a system in place to have more than one employee watch over patients recovering from anesthesia.

Call For Further Information

Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Defense Lawyer Danielle Sanger has represented numerous health care professionals who are facing licensing discipline. Contact Attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a consultation and learn how she will vigorously defend your livelihood.