36-24-39.1. Grounds for disciplinary action. Conduct which endangers or is likely to endanger the health, welfare, or safety of the public is grounds for disciplinary action and includes the following:

(1) Aiding or abetting unlicensed practice;

(2) Using or promoting or causing the use of any misleading, deceiving, improbable, or untruthful advertising matter, promotional literature, testimonial, guarantee, warranty, label, brand, insignia, or any other representation;

(3) Falsely representing the use or availability or services or advice of a physician;

(4) Misrepresenting the applicant, licensee, or holder by using the word, doctor, or any similar word, abbreviation, or symbol if the use is not accurate or if the degree was not obtained from a regionally accredited institution;

(5) Committing any act of dishonorable or unprofessional conduct while engaging in the practice of audiology or hearing aid dispensing;

(6) Engaging in illegal, incompetent, or habitually negligent practice;

(7) Providing professional services while mentally incompetent, under the influence of alcohol, using any narcotic or controlled dangerous substance or other drug that is in excess of therapeutic amounts or without valid medical indication or having a serious infectious or contagious disease;

(8) Providing services or promoting the sale of devices, appliances, or products to a person who cannot reasonably be expected to benefit from such services, devices, appliances, or products;

(9) Violating any provision of this chapter, any order given by the board, or rule adopted by the board;

(10) Being convicted of or pleading guilty or nolo contendere to a felony, whether or not any appeal or other proceeding is pending to have the conviction or plea set aside;

(11) Being disciplined by a licensing or disciplinary authority of any other state or country or convicted or disciplined by a court of any state or country for an act that would be grounds for disciplinary action under this section;

(12) Obtaining any fee or making any sale by fraud or misrepresentation;

(13) Advertising a particular model, type, or kind of hearing aid for sale when purchasers or prospective purchasers responding to the advertisement cannot purchase or are dissuaded from purchasing the advertised model, type, or kind if it is established that the purpose of the advertisement is to obtain prospects for the sale of a different model, type, or kind than that advertised;

(14) Permitting another person to use the hearing aid dispensing license or audiology license;

(15) Defaming competitors by falsely imputing to them dishonorable conduct, inability to perform contracts, questionable credit standing, or by other false representations, or falsely disparaging the products of competitors in any respect, or their business methods, selling prices, values, credit terms, policies, or services;

(16) Displaying competitive products in a show window, shop, or advertisement in such manner as to falsely disparage them;

(17) Quoting prices of competitive hearing aids or devices without disclosing that they are not the present current prices, or to show, demonstrate, or represent competitive models as being current models when such is not the fact;

(18) Imitating or simulating the trademarks, trade names, brands, or labels of competitors, with the capacity and tendency or effect of misleading or deceiving purchasers or prospective purchasers;

(19) Using any trade name, corporate name, trademark, or other designation, which has the capacity and tendency or effect of misleading or deceiving purchasers or prospective purchasers as to the name, nature, or origin of any product of the industry, or of any material used in the product, or which is false, deceptive, or misleading in any other material effect;

(20) Obtaining information concerning the business of a competitor by bribery of an employee or agent of a competitor, by false or misleading statements or representations, impersonation of one in authority, or by any other unfair means;

(21) Giving, or offering to give money or anything of value to any person who advises another in a professional capacity as an inducement to influence them or have them influence others to purchase or contract to purchase products sold or offered for sale by a hearing aid dispenser or audiologist, or to influence persons to refrain from dealing in the products of competitors;

(22) Use of a false name or alias in the practice of the business.Source: SL 1997, ch 221, § 49.