REPORT TITLE:
Dietitians


DESCRIPTION:
Establishes a dietitian licensure program effective July 1, 2000.
(HB749 CD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        749
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 3
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII                                            C.D. 1
                                                             
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                     A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO DIETITIANS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that nutrition plays a
 
 2 critical role in growth and brain development, the prevention of
 
 3 diseases such as cancer, the control and treatment of many
 
 4 diseases including arteriosclerosis and diabetes, and the
 
 5 attainment and maintenance of health.  Due to the growing
 
 6 awareness of the relationship between sound nutrition and health,
 
 7 there has also been a virtual explosion in the amount of
 
 8 information available to the public about nutrition.
 
 9 Unfortunately, but understandably, much of this information is
 
10 contradictory, confusing, and misleading and, when followed, may
 
11 actually undermine rather than improve a person's health.
 
12      The purpose of this Act is to provide for the regulation of
 
13 persons offering dietetic services to:
 
14      (1)  Safeguard the public health, safety, and welfare;
 
15      (2)  Protect those seeking dietetic services from
 
16           incompetent and unscrupulous persons, and persons
 
17           unauthorized to perform these services;
 
18      (3)  Assure the highest degree of professional conduct on
 
19           the part of dietitians; and
 

 
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 1      (4)  Assure the availability of high quality dietetic
 
 2           services.
 
 3      SECTION 2.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding
 
 4 a new chapter to title 19 to be appropriately designated and to
 
 5 read as follows:
 
 6                             "CHAPTER
 
 7                            DIETITIANS
 
 8      § -1  Definitions.  As used in this chapter:
 
 9      "Association" means the American Dietetic Association.
 
10      "Commission on Accreditation" means the Commission on
 
11 Accreditation/Approval for Dietetics Education.
 
12      "Licensed dietitian" means a person who uses the title of
 
13 licensed dietitian or dietitian and has been licensed to practice
 
14 dietetics under this chapter.
 
15      "Department" means the department of health.
 
16      "Dietetic practice" means the integration and application of
 
17 scientific principles of nutrition, biochemistry, physiology,
 
18 food, behavioral, and social sciences, in managing disease, and
 
19 achieving and maintaining human health throughout the life cycle.
 
20      "Director" means the director of health.
 
21      §  -2  Dietitian licensure program.  There is established a
 
22 dietitian licensure program within the department to be
 
23 administered by the director.
 

 
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 1      § -3  Powers and duties of the director.  In addition to
 
 2 any other powers and duties authorized by law, the director shall
 
 3 have the following powers and duties:
 
 4      (1)  Examine and approve the qualifications of all
 
 5           applicants under this chapter and issue a license to
 
 6           each successful applicant granting permission to use
 
 7           the title of "licensed dietitian" or "dietitian" in
 
 8           this State pursuant to this chapter and the rules
 
 9           adopted pursuant thereto;
 
10      (2)  Adopt, amend, or repeal rules pursuant to chapter 91 as
 
11           the director finds necessary to carry out this chapter;
 
12      (3)  Administer, coordinate, and enforce this chapter and
 
13           rules adopted pursuant thereto;
 
14      (4)  Discipline a licensed dietitian for any cause described
 
15           by this chapter or for any violation of the rules, and
 
16           refuse to license a person for failure to meet
 
17           licensure requirements or for any cause that would be
 
18           grounds for disciplining a licensed dietitian; and
 
19      (5)  Appoint an advisory committee consisting of licensed
 
20           dietitians to assist with the implementation of this
 
21           chapter and the rules adopted pursuant thereto.
 
22      § -4  Licensure required.  No person shall purport to be a
 
23 "licensed dietitian" or use the letters "L.D." in connection with
 

 
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 1 the person's name, or use any words or symbols indicating or
 
 2 tending to indicate that the person is a licensed dietitian
 
 3 without meeting the applicable requirements and holding a license
 
 4 as set forth in this chapter.
 
 5      §  -5  Licensure requirements.  In addition to the
 
 6 application requirements provided by section 436B-10, the
 
 7 director shall adopt rules as deemed necessary for the licensure
 
 8 of dietitians to protect public health and safety, and may
 
 9 consider the following as minimum evidence that an applicant is
 
10 qualified to be licensed:
 
11      (1)  The applicant received a baccalaureate degree or post-
 
12           baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited
 
13           college or university with a major course of study in
 
14           dietetics, human nutrition, food and nutrition, or food
 
15           systems management, or academic requirements related
 
16           thereto, approved by the Commission on Accreditation,
 
17           or meets equivalent core requirements for the dietetics
 
18           option at the University of Hawaii.  In addition to
 
19           basic dietetic principles of nutrition, human
 
20           physiology, biochemistry, and behavioral and social
 
21           sciences, course work shall include at least nine
 
22           semester credits (or twelve quarter hours) relating to
 
23           food science and food preparation.  Applicants who have
 

 
Page 5                                                     749
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 3
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 1           obtained their education outside of the United States
 
 2           and its territories shall have their academic degree
 
 3           validated by an agency authorized to validate foreign
 
 4           academic degrees as being equivalent to a
 
 5           baccalaureate, master's, or doctoral degree conferred
 
 6           by a regionally accredited college or university in the
 
 7           United States.  Validation of a foreign degree shall
 
 8           include a verification statement of completion of the
 
 9           major course of study or related academic requirements,
 
10           basic dietetic principles, and course work specified in
 
11           this paragraph;
 
12      (2)  Satisfactorily complete a documented supervised
 
13           practice experience component in dietetic practice of
 
14           not less than nine hundred hours approved by the
 
15           Commission on Accreditation;
 
16      (3)  Pass the registration examination for dietitians
 
17           administered by the Commission on Dietetic
 
18           Registration; and
 
19      (4)  Submit a report of any disciplinary action relating to
 
20           dietetics practice taken against the applicant in
 
21           another jurisdiction.
 
22      An individual who provides evidence of current registration
 
23 in the Association shall be deemed to have met the educational
 
24 and supervised practice experience requirements of this section.
 

 
Page 6                                                     749
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 1      §  -6  Licensure by endorsement.  The director shall grant,
 
 2 upon application and payment of proper fees, licensure to a
 
 3 person who, at the time of application, holds a valid
 
 4 certification or license as a dietitian issued by another state,
 
 5 territory, or jurisdiction if the requirements for that
 
 6 certification or license are equal to, or greater than, the
 
 7 requirements of this chapter.
 
 8      §  -7  Issuance of license.  The director shall issue a
 
 9 license to any person who meets the requirements of this chapter,
 
10 upon payment of the prescribed fees.
 
11      §   -8 Renewal of license.  (a)  Every license issued under
 
12 this chapter shall be renewed triennially on or before June 30,
 
13 with the first renewal deadline occurring on June 30, 2003.
 
14 Failure to renew a license shall result in a forfeiture of the
 
15 license.  Licenses that have been so forfeited may be restored
 
16 within one year of the expiration date upon payment of renewal
 
17 and penalty fees.  Failure to restore a forfeited license within
 
18 one year of the date of its expiration shall result in the
 
19 automatic termination of the license, and relicensure may require
 
20 the person to apply as a new applicant and satisfy all licensure
 
21 requirements again.
 
22      (b)  Upon request, the director may grant inactive status to
 
23 a person licensed under this chapter.
 

 
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 1      § -9  Fees; disposition.(a)  Application, examination,
 
 2 reexamination, license, renewal, late renewal penalty fees,
 
 3 inactive, and other reasonable and necessary fees relating to
 
 4 administration of this chapter, none of which are refundable,
 
 5 shall be as provided in rules adopted by the director pursuant to
 
 6 chapter 91.
 
 7      (b)  Fees assessed shall defray all costs to be incurred by
 
 8 the director to support the operation of the dietitian licensure
 
 9 program.
 
10      §  -10  Dietitian licensure special fund.  There is
 
11 established in the state treasury a special fund to be known as
 
12 the dietitian licensure special fund to be administered by the
 
13 department.  Fees collected under section   -9 shall be deposited
 
14 in the dietitian licensure special fund and may be expended for
 
15 the costs associated with administering the licensure program,
 
16 including but not limited to education.
 
17      § -11  Revocation, suspension, denial, or condition of
 
18 licenses; fines.  In addition to any other acts or conditions
 
19 provided by law, the director may refuse to renew, reinstate, or
 
20 restore, or may deny, revoke, suspend, fine, or condition in any
 
21 manner any license for any one or more of the following acts or
 
22 conditions on the part of the applicant or licensed dietitian:
 

 
 
 
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 1      (1)  Conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction of a
 
 2           crime that the director has determined to be of a
 
 3           nature that renders the person convicted unfit to
 
 4           practice dietetics;
 
 5      (2)  Failure to report in writing to the director any
 
 6           disciplinary decision related to dietetic practice
 
 7           issued against the licensed dietitian or the applicant
 
 8           in any jurisdiction within thirty days of the
 
 9           disciplinary decision or within twenty days of
 
10           licensure;
 
11      (3)  Violation of recognized ethical standards for
 
12           dietitians as set by the Association;
 
13      (4)  Use of fraud, deception, or misrepresentation in
 
14           obtaining a license;
 
15      (5)  Revocation, suspension, or other disciplinary action by
 
16           another state, territory, federal agency, or country
 
17           against the licensed dietitian or applicant for any
 
18           reason provided under this section; or
 
19      (6)  Other just and sufficient cause that renders a person
 
20           unfit to practice dietetics.
 
21      § -12  Prohibited acts; penalties.(a)  No person shall:
 
22      (1)  Use in connection with the person's name any
 
23           designation tending to imply that the person is a
 

 
Page 9                                                     749
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 1           licensed dietitian unless the person is duly licensed
 
 2           and authorized under this chapter; or
 
 3      (2)  Represent oneself as a licensed dietitian during the
 
 4           time the person's license issued under this chapter is
 
 5           forfeited, inactive, terminated, suspended, or revoked.
 
 6      (b)  Any person who violates this section shall be subject
 
 7 to a fine of not more than $1,000 and each day's violation shall
 
 8 be deemed a separate offense."
 
 9      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000.