Code of Ethics and Conduct: Poor Judgement

II. Doctors of chiropractic should maintain the highest standards of professional and personal conduct and should comply with all governmental rules and regulations.

III. Doctors of chiropractic have an obligation to the profession to endeavor to assure that their behavior does not give the appearance of professional impropriety. Any actions that may benefit the practitioner to the detriment of the profession must be avoided so as not to erode public trust.

The chief medical officer of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Regulation and Licensure inPoor v. State46 entered an order revoking Poor’s license to practice as a chiropractor in the state of Nebraska.Poor engaged in a conspiracy to manufacture and distribute a misbranded substance and introduced into interstate commerce misbranded and adulterated drugs with the intent to defraud and mislead. He was arrested for driving under the influence and was convicted of that offen. In addition, Poor knowingly possessed cocaine. He conceded that these factual determinations were understood as beyond dispute.The district court’s determination that Poor had engaged in “grossly immoral or dishonorable conduct” was not based on “trivial reasons.” The appeals court found that Poor’s conduct clearly fell within the plain and ordinary meaning of grossly immoral or dishonorable conduct. In its order finding Poor to be unfit, the district court relied ipart on Poor’s denial of conduct underlying a previous felony conviction. The court stated, “Poor’s denial now, after taking advantage of a plea bargain, that he committed any of the acts he admitted to in the United State[s] District Court is disturbing and is not consistent with the integrity and acceptance of responsibility expected by persons engaged in a professional occupation.”Chiropractic medicine is a regulated healthcare profession. Patients necessarily rely on a chiropractor’s honesty, integrity, sound professional judgment, and compliance with applicable governmental regulations. Poor argued that there was absolutely no testimony or evidence to the effect that anything he did constituted a threat of harm tohis patients.The Supreme Court of Nebraska determined that due to the seriousness of Poor’s felony conviction and its underlying conduct, his subsequent lack of candor with respect to that conduct, as well as his lack of sound judgment demonstrated by his driving-under-the-influence conviction, revocation of Poor’s license was anappropriate sanction.

Ethical and Legal Issues

1. Did the chiropractor in this case violate his professional code of ethics? Explain your answer.

2. Describe how an individual’s personal life can affect his or her professional career.