CLEAR

Ethiopia: research on hiring bodies for health professionals

A study was conducted in Ethiopia to analyze the licensing practices of healthcare professional hiring bodies. "One-fifth of recruiting bodies (20.55%) had experience in hiring health professionals without a license. Moreover, 136 (37.3%) of the health professional hiring bodies had a mechanism in place to verify the license's originality, of which, 40 (29.4%) said they found fake licenses during recruitment. Fifty-seven (15.62%) of respondents had seen a health professional being recruited without a license in their institution, and 40 (10.9%) had taken part in the recruitment of health professionals without a license. Two hundred and eleven (60.5%) of the hiring bodies had never attended or conducted training about health professionals' licenses in their institution.

About 56% of the health professional hiring bodies of Ethiopia were found to have good licensing practices and the rest 44% have poor licensing practices while recruiting health professionals in their institutions."

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New York: court case on professional speech versus conduct

A new York court opinion has ruled that volunteers for a legal aid nonprofit are not subject to New York's law against the unauthorized practice of law (UPL). Upsolve, a financial-education and civil rights nonprofit, sued, claiming the the UPL law was a violation of First Amendment rights to free speech in that their services consisted of "pure verbal speech" and did not constitute conduct. The court applied the highest level of First Amendment scrutiny to the UPL law and found that "a total ban on Upsolve's program cannot be justified." The CATO Institute concludes: "There is of course a role to play for states in protecting consumers, but all too often those rules do not account for new and innovative nonprofits or business models."

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Court case: professional counselor license versus First Amendment

A case filed by a Virginia professional counselor wishing to offer video counseling to clients in the District of Columbia claims that the DC license requirement is a violation of the First Amendment. The case may go forward, as the judge's ruling on the board's dismissal request finds that the license requirement is content-based regulation of speech (as opposed to regulation of conduct), and the requirement does not survive strict scrutiny, so the claim cannot be dismissed but must be proven that the requirement serves a compelling state interest.

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Delaware: newly established Human Trafficking Unit

The Human Trafficking Unit under the Delaware Department of Justice has been in full operation for one month and reports the shutdown of three illicit massage establishments. Investigations were undertaken in partnership with the Division of Professional Regulation, resulting in charges of operating an unlicensed massage establishment and felony promoting prostitution.

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Florida: circuit court case on dieticians and free speech

A decision in a case before the 11th Circuit Court in Florida holds that the state licensing scheme for dieticians does not violate free speech rights of unlicensed dieticians. "A statute that governs the practice of an occupation is not unconstitutional as an abridgement of the right to free speech, so long as any inhibition of that right is merely the incidental effect of observing an otherwise legitimate regulation."  The case alleged that requiring a license to practice as a dietician violated an individual's free speech rights to communicate advice on diet and nutrition to her clients. The ruling held that the Act regulates professional conduct of dieticians and only incidentally burdens free speech rights.

The article author's analysis concludes that "courts should recognize that this does indeed require recognizing a zone of special regulation for professional-client speech, rather than pretending that it's 'conduct'."

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North Carolina: case related to unlicensed practice of engineering

The North Carolina Board of Examiners for Surveyors and Engineers was made aware of a situation in which an individual formerly employed as an engineer by a manufacturer (and thus with an "industrial exemption" from engineering licensure requirements) has given free public testimony on technical matters in a lawsuit. The Board responded that "the definition of engineering includes testimony if engineering education, training or experience is required to render the testimony," and such testimony would require a license. The Board initiated an investigation of unlicensed practice. The individual has now filed a federal lawsuit against the Board, claiming a violation of First Amendment free speech rights.

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Louisiana bill makes changes to Board of Massage Therapy

The Louisiana Legislature has approved a bill making changes to how the Board of Massage Therapy handles applications and complaints. The board will now be required to send applicants' fingerprints to the FBI and state law enforcement for a check of criminal history. The board will also be required to place priority on any complaints dealing with unlicensed practice in an attempt to more effectively identify cases of human trafficking. The board will need to proactively check news stories for potential illegal activity and offer training to employees on how to identify human trafficking.

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US teeth-aligning company files lawsuit against Manitoba Dental Association

SmileDirectClub, a US-based company that sells mail-order teeth-straightening devices, has filed a lawsuit against the Manitoba Dental Association and its board of directors alleging that they have made "false or misleading statements" about the company. The case cites two emails sent by the Manitoba Dental Association to its members noting the requirement for in-person exams and the requirement that a dentist be on site when taking impressions of teeth for retainers. The email noted the risk of patient harm if these requirements are not followed. SmileDirectClub's case claims that there is no regulation making in-person exams a requirement, thus the association's statements are intimidating dentists into not doing business with the company. SmileDirectClub has been the subject of federal court cases in the US, in Georgia and Alabama, as well as complaints from the American Association of Orthodontists.

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Update: Florida judge rules on dietician case

A federal judge in Florida has upheld a ruling that a dietician license is required by those offering diet coaching for a fee. The court case claimed that the licensing requirement was a violation of First Amendment free speech rights. The judge, however, looked to prior cases that have ruled that requiring an occupational license to earn a living talking about certain issues is not unconstitutional if the regulation is otherwise legitimate.

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NABP report on social media and rogue pharmacy websites

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy has released the "Internet Drug Outlet Identification Program Progress Report for State and Federal Regulators." NABP conducted a four-week study using keyword searches of prescription drug terms on social media platforms and found numerous posts promoting the sale of medications and providing links to illegal online pharmacies. NABP is working with social media companies on ways to better screen and monitor their platforms for links to such illegal sites.

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