Enforcement unit reports rising complaints, new citation authority; watchdog groups press for transparency
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Summary
Enforcement staff told the board they received 320 complaints this fiscal year (up 33%), have new administrative citation authority effective Oct. 1, and aim to meet performance targets; public commenters from Consumer Watchdog urged better transparency and asked why relatively few complaints move to accusations at the Attorney General's office.
Board enforcement staff reported a year‑over‑year increase in consumer complaints and described steps they said are underway to process a growing caseload more quickly.
Christy Livramento, the board’s enforcement program manager, told the Osteopathic Medical Board of California that the unit received 320 complaints and seven arrest/conviction notices in the quarter — a 33% increase compared with the prior year — which staff partly attributed to outreach and greater public awareness of the board’s complaint process.
Livramento said the board was granted expanded administrative citation authority effective Oct. 1, enabling staff to issue citations after enforcement review for violations that previously might have been closed without action because they did not meet the threshold for formal discipline.
She briefed the board on four performance measures: the target for initiating complaints (PM2) is 10 days and the unit’s year‑to‑date performance is 5 days; the target for completing desk investigations (PM3) is 360 days and the current average is 221 days; PM4 (cases transmitted to the Attorney General’s Office for formal discipline) has a 540‑day target and an 804‑day current average (down from 902). Staff emphasized PM4 is affected by external timelines at the AG and OAH.
Board members asked how quickly the unit is closing pending cases. Staff said closure speed varies by complexity, that desk investigations are targeted at 360 days (with a longer goal of 180 days for some cases), and that roughly 10 closures occur per week across closure types (educational letters, citations, probation, or referral to AG).
Public commenters from Consumer Watchdog pressed the board for fuller transparency. Michelle Montserrat Ramos said, "Consumer complaints are far more than mere case numbers... they represent the lives of individuals who were dearly loved and cherished," and asked why so few complaints proceed to accusations. Maria Ibarra Navarette and Tracy Dominguez described personal experiences and urged public enforcement‑committee meetings and clearer complainant communications.
Staff and the executive director acknowledged the public’s concerns, explained legal thresholds that determine whether a case meets the AG’s standard for filing an accusation, and said the board has doubled referrals to the AG this quarter (eight referrals this quarter versus four last year). Livramento and staff offered to provide additional closure statistics at a future meeting.
What’s next: Staff proposed additional hiring (limited‑term analyst), weekly caseload reviews and monthly caseload audits to reduce analyst averages toward a goal of about 80 cases per analyst.
