STAND. COM. REP. NO 622

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                

 

RE:    S.B. No. 114

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 114 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DENTISTRY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require, after January 1, 2016, the continuing education program for dentists to include three hours of ethics training per year.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Dental Association.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Board of Dental Examiners.

 

     Your Committee finds that Hawaii's licensed dentists are required to maintain their professional licensure with continuing education classes in order to keep up with current professional standards and procedures.  Ethics is an area that is often overlooked in education.  Requiring three hours of ethics training each year will maintain the integrity of the dental profession and assure the public that their interests are protected.

 

     Your Committee further finds that chapter 448, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to dentistry, does not reference a specific code of ethics for dentists.  Including a specific reference to a code of ethics will clarify licensees' obligations and will complement the continuing education ethics training requirements proposed by this measure.

 

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Specifying that the Board of Dental Examiners may suspend or revoke any license issued under chapter 448, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for conduct or practice contrary to recognized standards of ethics of the profession, as adopted by the American Dental Association or the Hawaii Dental Association; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 114, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 114, S.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

 

 

 

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair