Audit finds California’s chiropractic board violated laws

SACRAMENTO – The state board overseeing chiropractors has violated open-meeting laws and taken other inappropriate actions because members, who include some political appointees with close ties to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, did not understand their power or responsibility, according to a state audit today.

State Auditor Elaine Howle audited the board after it came under criticism last year for not looking out for the interests of consumers amid reports that Schwarzenegger had appointed friends with little consumer protection experience.

Schwarzenegger’s appointments included Board Secretary Franco Columbu, a chiropractor who was best man at the governor’s wedding, and board member Richard H. Tyler, the governor’s former chiropractor.

“In one glaringly inappropriate instance, board members did not provide required written notice to the former executive officer, fired her during a closed-session meeting, and then failed to disclose the action when reconvening the public meeting,” the audit found.

Although the chiropractic board’s regulations require that it establish chiropractic quality review panels, it has never complied with its regulation, auditors found

The lapses mean those with complaints of misconduct by chiropractors have suffered.

“The chiropractic board’s weak management of its enforcement program may have contributed to inconsistent treatment of complaints as well as unreasonable delays in processing,” Howle wrote to the governor and Legislature. “In fact, the chiropractic board’s handling of complaints is so flawed that it fails to promptly process its most serious complaints – those it defines as having priority.”

Of 11 priority complaints reviewed by auditors, it found that nine took from one to three years to process by the board.

Created in 1922, the board is an administrative review body with the primary responsibility of protecting California consumers against fraudulent, negligent, or incompetent chiropractic practices, the audit said.

The audit was ordered by legislators after they held hearings a year ago on allegations that the board was looking out for chiropractors more than protecting the public. At the time, the board’s chairman was Tyler, who is not only the governor’s former chiropractor, but also a longtime associate who greeted Schwarzenegger at the airport when the bodybuilder arrived in the U.S. in 1968.

The legislative hearings looked at allegations that board members voted to endorse a chiropractic treatment because they wanted to protect a chiropractor facing criminal charges in San Joaquin County.

The Times reported last year that the board had ejected from the room its state-appointed attorney, Jana Tuton, who has questioned the legality of its actions. In addition, e-mails among board members raised questions about whether board business was being conducted in secret, in violation of California’s open-meetings law.

The audit concluded: “Board members’ lack of understanding about state laws related to their responsibilities as board members, including the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, resulted in some violations of state law and other inappropriate actions.”

Other findings by auditors included:

* The chiropractic board did not ensure that its designated employees, including board members, complied with the reporting requirements of the Political Reform Act of 1974.

* Board members inappropriately delegated responsibility to approve or deny licenses to chiropractic board staff.

* The chiropractic board has not developed comprehensive procedures, such as the length of time it should take to process complaints and, as a result, staff do not always process complaints promptly.

* The board’s weak management of its enforcement program may have contributed to inconsistent treatment of complaints as well as unreasonable delays in processing.

One of the most glaring problems involved compliance with the state Political Reform Act of 1974 that requires state officials and employees with decision-making authority to disclose certain financial interests by filing statements of economic interests annually and on assuming or leaving a designated position.

“The chiropractic board did not ensure that designated employees complied with these reporting requirements,” the audit found.

Among the 12 board members serving in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and the four employees whose statements of economic interests were reviewed, eight did not correctly complete statements of economic interests, nine filed statements late, and two did not file statements, the audit found.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com