Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
In accordance with the provisions of the Uniform Licensing
Act, the board may take disciplinary action if the board determines that the
applicant or licensee has violated the Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology and
Hearing Aid Dispensing Practices Act or the board's rules. The following may
subject the applicant or licensee to disciplinary action by the board.
A. Engaging in unprofessional conduct:
Unprofessional conduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) violations of the principles of ethics or
the ethical proscriptions as set forth in board regulations concerning its Code
of Ethics (16.26.9 NMAC);
(2) for
an audiologist or dispensing otorhinolaryngologist to accept a case referred
from a hearing aid dispenser and not return the case to the referring
professional unless the person seeking the hearing aid refuses to return to the
referring professional or if the professional determines, using his best
professional judgement, the return of the case would not be in the person's
best medical or audiological interest.
B. Engaging in acts that constitute
incompetence: Incompetence includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) failure to possess the knowledge, apply
the skill or provide the care required by generally accepted standards of the
professions of speech-language pathology, audiology or hearing aid dispensing;
or
(2) violation of the principles
of ethics II or the ethical proscriptions thereunder as set forth in board
regulations relating to professional competence (Subsections D and E of
16.26.9.8
NMAC);
(3) a finding of
incompetence may be based upon a single act or omission of competence or upon a
course of conduct or series of acts or omissions which extend over a period of
time and which, taken as a whole, demonstrate incompetence.
C. Aiding or abetting the practice
by a person not licensed by the board. Aiding or abetting the practice of
speech language pathology by a person not licensed by the board includes, but
is not limited to, the following:
(1) A
licensee shall not authorize or otherwise permit a speech language
paraprofessional or assistant working under his or her supervision to diagnose,
conduct diagnostic testing, interpret diagnostic testing, develop a plan of
care or deviate from a plan of care.
(2) A licensee shall ensure that a speech
language paraprofessional or assistant working under his or her supervision
follows the plan of care.
(3) A
licensee shall not authorize or otherwise permit an apprentice in
speech-language pathology working under his or her supervision to conduct any
of the duties set forth in Subsection E of
16.26.2.18
NMAC of the boards rules and shall ensure that the apprentice only engages in
those duties authorized in Subsection D of
16.26.2.18
NMAC of the boards rules.
D. Failing to deliver to any person supplied
with a hearing aid a receipt which contains the following information:
(1) licensee's license number and
signature;
(2) the
sponsor's/supervisor's signature approving of the fitting if the seller is a
clinical fellow, graduate student or trainee;
(3) address of the licensee's regular place
of business;
(4) make and model of
the hearing aid;
(5) full financial
terms of the sale;
(6) statement as
to whether the hearing aid is new, used or reconditioned;
(7) statement that the purchaser was advised
that the licensee was not a licensed physician and that the examination and
recommendation was made as a hearing aid dispenser, audiologist, clinical
fellow, trainee or graduate student and not as a medical diagnosis or
prescription;
(8) terms of
guarantee, if any.
(9) hearing aid
options that can provide a direct connection between the hearing aid and
assistive listening systems.
E. Convictions for any of the following
offenses, or their equivalents in any other jurisdiction, are disqualifying
criminal convictions that may disqualify an applicant from receiving or
retaining a license issued by the board:
(1)
homicide or manslaughter;
(2)
trafficking, or trafficking in controlled substances;
(3) human trafficking, kidnapping, false
imprisonment, use of force or threats of force against school employees or
healthcare workers, arson, aggravated assault or aggravated battery;
(4) rape, criminal sexual penetration,
criminal sexual contact, incest, indecent exposure, failure to register as a
sex offender, or other related felony sexual offenses;
(5) crimes involving adult abuse, neglect or
financial exploitation;
(6) crimes
involving child abuse or neglect;
(7) crimes involving robbery, larceny,
extortion, burglary, bribery, fraud, tax fraud or evasion, forgery,
embezzlement, credit card fraud, misuse of public funds or benefits, making
false statements, offering or soliciting an illegal kickback or government
action, tampering with public records, perjury;
(8) escape from a custody or possession of
deadly weapons in custody;
(9)
practicing healthcare without a license;
(10) an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy
involving any of the felonies in this subsection.
F. The board shall not consider the fact of a
criminal conviction as part of an application for licensure unless the
conviction in question is one of the disqualifying criminal convictions listed
in Subsection E of this rule.
G.
The board shall not deny, suspend or revoke a license on the sole basis of a
criminal conviction unless the conviction in question is one of the
disqualifying criminal convictions listed in Subsection A of this
rule.
H. Nothing in this rule
prevents the board from denying an application or disciplining a licensee on
the basis of an individual's conduct to the extent that such conduct violated
the Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, and Hearing Aid Dispensing Practices
Act, regardless of whether the individual was convicted of a crime for such
conduct or whether the crime for which the individual was convicted is listed
as one of the disqualifying criminal convictions listed in Subsection A of this
rule.
I. In connection with an
application for licensure, the board shall not use, distribute, disseminate, or
admit into evidence at an adjudicatory proceeding criminal records of any of
the following:
(1) an arrest not followed by a
valid conviction;
(2) a conviction
that has been sealed, dismissed, expunged or pardoned;
(3) a juvenile adjudication; or
(4) a conviction for any crime other than the
disqualifying criminal convictions listed in Subsection A of this
rule.
