It currently takes 1387 days, nearly four years, for a complaint about a doctor to make it entirely through the complaint process at the Medical Board of California (MBC), assuming it doesn't get blocked along the way.   Just getting to the first part of the process, where the case the Central Complaint Unit takes 148 days, about five months.  At this stage, they review the complaint, determine if the MBC has jurisdiction, gather initial medical records, and have a medical consultant provide an initial opinion.  After that, a decision is made to either close the complaint or refer it for a full investigation.