HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	154
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Urging the board of dental examiners, in adopting proposed rules relating to false or misleading advertising by dentists, to consider whether further guidelines should be adopted to specify the types of advertising that are prohibited.

     WHEREAS, dental health services are important to the overall health and well-being of individuals; and

     WHEREAS, given the numerous and diverse specialties in the practice of dentistry, advertising by dentists must accurately describe the dentist's qualifications; and

     WHEREAS, the Board of Dental Examiners (Board) is charged with the licensing and sanctioning of dental health professionals; and

     WHEREAS, the Board is authorized to sanction dentists for false, fraudulent, or misleading advertising prohibited under section 448-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

     WHEREAS, H.B. No. 2298, introduced in the Regular Session of 2008, proposes to specify the types of false or misleading advertising that are prohibited; and

     WHEREAS, among other things, H.B. No. 2298 specifies that false or misleading advertising includes advertising a dental specialty for which the dentist has not successfully completed the necessary education requirements; and

     WHEREAS, in testimony submitted in opposition to H.B. No. 2298, the Board noted that it has been collaborating with the Hawaii Dental Association on proposed amendments to the Board's administrative rules that would further clarify the Board's ability to sanction licensees for false or misleading advertising; and

     WHEREAS, the Board further testified that it considered H.B. No. 2298 unnecessary because the bill is apparently redundant to the proposed amendments to the Board's administrative rules; and

     WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to ensure that the Board's proposed rules address the issues and concerns that prompted the introduction of H.B. No. 2298; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature urges the Board of Dental Examiners, in adopting proposed rules relating to false or misleading advertising by dentists, to consider whether further guidelines should be adopted to specify the types of advertising that are prohibited; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chair of the Board of Dental Examiners and the President of the Hawaii Dental Association.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Dentists; False Advertising