Senator Shamp's Special Audit Request Results in Evidence of Egregious Misconduct by Chiropractic Board

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                             

Monday, December 23, 2024

Senator Shamp's Special Audit Request Results in Evidence of

Egregious Misconduct by Chiropractic Board

PHOENIX, ARIZONA—Senate Majority Leader-Elect Janae Shamp is following through on a promise to address concerns related to the Arizona Board of Chiropractic Examiners' mismanagement of patient complaints and allegations of sexual misconduct.

On February 12, 2024, Senator Shamp submitted a special audit request through the Joint Legislative Audit Committee following multiple complaints against the Chiropractic Board brought forth by constituents. The recently released results of more than 100 pages unearthed a scathing report of misconduct.  

According to the report, the Board "regularly expanded complaint investigations by subpoenaing information unrelated to complaint allegations, potentially resulting in unwarranted disciplinary actions and lengthy complaint investigations; did not always apply its statutes and rules consistently among licensees; did not report allegations of criminal wrongdoing to appropriate authorities, increasing public safety risk; made progress toward reducing its complaint backlog but did not resolve most complaints within 180 days; engaged in advocacy regarding pending legislation without clear statutory authority to do so; did not comply with some State open meeting law and conflict of interest requirements; and had not established sufficient processes to ensure consistent Board practices and communication over time."

"The Board has failed to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public, and I have fought hard to bring this misconduct to light," said Senator Shamp. "These boards exist to provide practitioner accountability for the safety of their patients, so to have evidence which proves they were intentionally withholding reports of potential criminal wrongdoing to law enforcement is deeply disturbing and infuriating. I will be sponsoring legislation this session to prevent this abuse of authority from happening in the future, and I will continue to expose any other board or agency operating in a corrupt manner to the detriment of the safety and wellbeing of Arizonans."

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For more information, contact:

Kim Quintero

Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus

kquintero@azleg.gov