Vermont Statutes Title 26 Sec. 4132
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 26 Sec. 4132
- Director: means the Director of the Office of Professional Regulation. See
- Disciplinary action: includes issuance of warnings and all sanctions including denial, suspension, revocation, limitation, or restriction of licenses, and other similar limitations. See
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
§ 4132. Unprofessional conduct
(a) The following conduct and conduct set forth in 3 V.S.A. § 129a by a person licensed under this chapter or an applicant for licensure constitutes unprofessional conduct:
(1) Failing to use a complete or accurate title in professional activity.
(2) Conduct that evidences moral unfitness to practice naturopathic medicine.
(3) Harassing, intimidating, or abusing a patient.
(4) Agreeing with any other person or organization, or subscribing to any code of ethics or organizational bylaws, when the intent or primary effect of that agreement, code, or bylaw is to restrict or limit the flow of information concerning alleged or suspected unprofessional conduct to the Board.
(5) Abandonment of a patient.
(6) Gross overcharging for professional services on repeated occasions, including filing of false statements for collection of fees for which services were not rendered.
(7) Sexual harassment of a patient.
(8) Engaging in an inappropriate sexual act with a patient.
(9) Willful misrepresentation in treatments.
(10) Practicing naturopathic medicine in an area or areas in which the licensee is not trained to practice.
(11) Using conversion therapy as defined in 18 V.S.A. § 8351 on a client younger than 18 years of age.
(b) The Director may refuse to accept the return of a license tendered by the subject of a disciplinary investigation and may notify relevant State, federal, and local agencies and appropriate bodies in other states of the status of any pending or completed disciplinary case against the licensee, provided that notice of charges against the licensee has been served or disciplinary action against that person has been taken.
(c) The burden of proof in a disciplinary action shall be on the State to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the person has engaged in unprofessional conduct.
(d) After hearing, and upon a finding of unprofessional conduct, an administrative law officer may take disciplinary action against a licensee or applicant. (Added 1995, No. 171 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1997, No. 40, § 49(a); 1997, No. 145 (Adj. Sess.), § 63; 1999, No. 133 (Adj. Sess.), § 33; 2001, No. 129 (Adj. Sess.), § 36, eff. June 13, 2002; 2015, No. 138 (Adj. Sess.), § 11.)