Osteopathic Medical Board reports higher complaints, gets new citation authority as advocates demand more referrals to AG

Christy Livramento, the board’s enforcement program manager, told members that the unit received 320 complaints and seven arrest/conviction notices in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025–26, a 33% increase from the prior year. “The additional authority will allow the board to issue administrative citations after enforcement review of complaints,” Livramento said, noting that the citation authority took effect Oct. 1, 2025.

Livramento walked the board through four performance measures, saying the unit is meeting three of four targets but still struggles with cases that require involvement by the Attorney General’s office. “Case aging in this category is at 804 days, which is down from 902 days,” she said, referring to investigations transmitted to the Attorney General for formal discipline. Staff also reported the unit averages 221 days for non‑AG investigations and aims to reduce desk investigations toward 180 days when staffing allows.

Board members pressed staff for context about pending caseloads. A board member asked how quickly the unit is “chewing through” the roughly 648 pending cases; staff explained completion targets and case complexity, and offered a working closure estimate of about 10 cases per week under current conditions. Staff said their internal goal is about 80 cases per analyst; current averages are around 164 cases per analyst because of vacancies and leaves.

Public commenters representing Consumer Watchdog told the board those case counts represent people’s lives, not just statistics. “Consumer complaints are far more than mere case numbers,” Michelle Montserrat Ramos said, and urged the board to make complainant interviews and the questions asked more transparent so families can better prepare. Maria Ibarra Navarette said the public is troubled that a small fraction of complaints advance to accusations: “We appreciate the statistics shared in your enforcement update of 241 complaints received this year and mere 4 have progressed to the attorney general’s office,” she said (staff later corrected the quarter total to 320 and said eight cases were referred to the AG this quarter).

Livramento and other staff told the board the increase in complaints is partly the result of outreach efforts and more public awareness of the board’s existence. They also said referral to the Attorney General requires meeting evidentiary thresholds and can be delayed by missing information, family nonresponse, or procedural motions once a case reaches the AG’s office. Staff offered to provide monthly closure statistics at a future meeting.

What happens next: staff said they will provide closure statistics on request and continue to use the new citation authority to address lower‑level violations. The board may revisit enforcement metrics and staffing needs in future meetings.