§ 3302. Unprofessional conduct of audiologists

(a) A licensee or applicant shall not engage in unprofessional conduct.

(b) Unprofessional conduct means the following conduct and the conduct set forth in 3 V.S.A. § 129a:

(1) willfully making or filing false reports or records in the practice of audiology, willfully impeding or obstructing the proper making or filing of reports or records, or willfully failing to file the proper report or record;

(2) aiding or abetting a person, directly or indirectly, to commit an unauthorized practice;

(3) giving, offering to give, or causing to be given, directly or indirectly, money or anything of value to any person who advises another in a professional capacity, as an inducement for the professional to influence others to purchase goods or services from the licensee;

(4) advertising or making a representation that is intended or has a tendency to deceive the public, including:

(A) advertising a particular type of service, equipment, or hearing aid when the particular service, equipment, or hearing aid is not available;

(B) stating or implying that the use of a hearing aid will retard the progression of a hearing impairment;

(C) advertising or making any statement related to the practice of audiology that is intended to or tends to deceive or mislead the public; and

(D) using, 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;

(5) engaging in any unfair or deceptive act or practice within the meaning of 9 V.S.A. § 2453, relating to consumer protection;

(6) willfully failing to honor any representation, promise, agreement, or warranty to a client or consumer;

(7) professional negligence or malpractice;

(8) any of the following, except when reasonably undertaken in an emergency situation in order to protect life or health:

(A) practicing or offering to practice beyond the scope permitted by law;

(B) accepting and performing professional or occupational responsibilities that the licensee knows or has reason to know the licensee is not competent to perform; or

(C) performing professional or occupational services that have not been authorized by the consumer or his or her legal representative;

(9) failing to make available, upon request of a person using the licensee's services, copies of records or documents in the possession or under the control of the licensee, when those records or documents have been prepared in connection with the furnishing of services or goods to the requesting persons;

(10) sexual harassment of a patient or client;

(11) engaging in a sexual act as defined in 13 V.S.A. § 3251 with a patient;

(12) conviction of a crime related to the practice of audiology or conviction of a felony, whether or not related to the practice of the profession;

(13) discouraging clients or consumers in any way from exercising their right to a refund within a 45-day trial period, unreasonably delaying payment of such refunds as may be due, or deducting amounts from refunds beyond those allowed by law;

(14) failing to inform a consumer prior to sale of a hearing aid that a medical evaluation of hearing loss prior to purchasing a hearing aid is in the consumer's best health interest;

(15) engaging in fraud in connection with any state or federally assisted medical assistance programs; or

(16) violating any part of the Code of Ethics of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association or the American Academy of Audiology. (Added 2015, No. 38, § 34, eff. Sept. 1, 2015.)