A local chiropractor who engaged in unethical behavior, such as having sex with patients and lying on license renewal applications, had his license suspended for a minimum of six months.
The Louisiana State Board of Chiropractic Examiners has suspended Dustin Pelloquin, the owner of Pelloquin Chiropractic Wellness Center in Scott, from offering chiropractic care or services in any manner during that time.
Pelloquin was also ordered to undergo psychosexual assessments and continuing education in addition to having his license suspended and being subject to financial penalties.
Pelloquin will be placed on probation for a year after the psychosexual evaluation's findings, and his suspension will last for at least six months. Along with paying a $10,000 punishment, Pelloquin is also required to compensate the State Board for $8,482.09 in expenditures associated with the investigations and processes.
The punishments are part of an agreement between Pelloquin and the board in which he “admitted the violations and expressed a desire to enter into this Consent Agreement to settle this matter without the necessity of an administrative hearing before the Board.”
The sanctions are the result of investigations into two complaints to the board, one from a former patient who alleged that Pelloquin had sex with her while under his care and the other from Pelloquin’s former wife, who claimed he was having sex with patients in his chiropractic clinic for several years.
According to the suspension order from the state board, Pelloquin admitted under oath in a deposition taken on Aug. 16, 2022, in his divorce proceedings that during the course of his marriage to Courtney Pelloquin, Dustin Pelloquin committed adultery with at least ten different individuals, some of whom were his chiropractic patients at Pelloquin Chiropractic.
In a written response filed with the roard office on or about April 5, 2023, Pelloquin admitted that he did engage in “inappropriate relations” with a patient at the time she was under his care. While Pelloquin claimed “this was mutual,” the board noted that “a patient’s consent to sexual behavior with a licensee does not change the nature of the consent or lift the prohibition.”
Pelloquin also admitted in that deposition that he had falsified his continuing education classes on renewal applications because he had not attended the continuing education hours he reported to the board that he had attended, and that he does not actually attend the continuing education classes.
The state board also found that Pelloquin provided false answers on his 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 renewal applications regarding his 2007 arrest in Texas for public intoxication.