AB 431

Under current law, no person may engage in the practice of fitting and dealing

in hearing aids unless he or she is licensed as an audiologist or as a hearing

instrument specialist, with certain exceptions. The practice of fitting and dealing in

hearing aids is defined to mean the measurement of human hearing by means of an

audiometer or by any other means accepted by the Hearing and Speech Examining

Board solely for the purpose of making selections, adaptations, or sales of hearing

aids intended to compensate for impaired hearing. This bill amends the definition

of the practice of fitting and dealing in hearing aids to apply only to the selections,

adaptations, or sales of prescription hearing aids.

Further, this bill requires the Hearing and Speech Examining Board to issue

certificates to hearing instrument specialists to engage in cerumen management.

Cerumen is a wax-like secretion from glands in the external auditory canal. Under

current law, hearing instrument specialists may not engage in cerumen

management, unlike audiologists who may engage in cerumen management. To be

certified to engage in cerumen management under the bill, a hearing instrument

specialist must complete a course on cerumen management identified by the Hearing

and Speech Examining Board. In identifying cerumen management courses, the

completion of which qualifies a hearing instrument specialist to engage in cerumen

management, the bill directs the Hearing and Speech Examining Board to select

cerumen management courses that consist of at least six hours of instruction in

removing cerumen from an ear canal using a variety of safe techniques and that

includes a final examination on proper cerumen management procedures. Finally,

the bill directs the Hearing and Speech Examining Board to promulgate rules to

implement the cerumen management certification, including rules to define the

scope of cerumen management and to establish proper infection control practices.