SB2371 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB093 19052 RXD 44787 b

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
SB2371

Introduced 2/3/2004, by Denny Jacobs

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Hypnosis Consumer Protection Act. Provides that an unlicensed practitioner providing hypnotism services shall be guilty of a petty offense and subject to a fine not to exceed $500 plus other fees if he or she: 1) willfully diagnoses or independently treats a physical or mental illness of any person, 2) conducts surgery or any other procedure on any person that punctures the skin, 3) prescribes or administers x-ray radiation to any person, 4) prescribes or administers legend drugs or controlled substances, 5) recommends to any person discontinuance of medication prescribed by a physician, or 6) implies that he or she is an Illinois licensed health care practitioner. Provides that an unlicensed person providing hypnotism services shall disclose to the client in a written statement, information relating to the nature of the services provided and his or her academic and professional experience, and he or she shall obtain written acknowledgment from the client that such information was provided.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning consumer protection.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Hypnosis Consumer Protection Act.

Section 5. Legislative findings; purpose.

(a) The use of hypnotism as a helpful practice to increase self-control and to improve personal productivity is well documented in numerous studies. The General Assembly has recognized in the past that hypnotism for nontherapeutic purposes is a lawful activity by unlicensed persons and has exempted such persons from the requirement for psychological licensure as there is no demonstration that the practice poses an imminent risk of significant harm to the public's health and safety.

(b) Some providers of hypnotism services have held their services out to the public in technical compliance to the law, but using titles, representations, or academic degree designations that could lead reasonable persons to believe that the provider was a licensed health care practitioner able to treat, diagnose, or prescribe. This has resulted in confusion among the public as to the appropriate limits of practice of an unlicensed person, uncertainty in how to weigh advice given by such persons, and unfair marketing practices by some providers at the expense of those who are careful to hold services out to the public in a manner that is not deceptive.

(c) The General Assembly finds that the unlicensed practice of nontherapeutic hypnotism services is not harmful to the public's health and safety. The General Assembly intends to allow public access to nontherapeutic hypnotism services and to protect the public from unlicensed providers of hypnotism services who hold themselves out to the public in a deceptive or misleading manner or who seek to increase their authority with consumers by using bogus or unaccredited academic degrees.

Section 10. License.

(a) This Act shall not be construed to limit the activities and services provided by a person legally regulated in this State by any other Act from engaging in the practice of hypnotism provided the regulatory Act governing such persons contains a scope of practice which might reasonably be interpreted to include the use of hypnotism.

(b) A person who is not licensed to provide some form of health care by a valid Illinois regulatory Act and who provides hypnotism services in accordance with this Section shall not be in violation of any Acts concerning the health care profession and shall be deemed to be engaged in the nontherapeutic practice of hypnotism, unless he or she does any of the following:

(1) Willfully diagnoses or independently treats a physical or mental illness of any person;

(2) Conducts surgery or any other procedure on any person that punctures the skin;

(3) Prescribes or administers x-ray radiation to any person;

(4) Prescribes or administers legend drugs or controlled substances to any person;

(5) Recommends to any person the discontinuance of legend drugs or controlled substances prescribed by a licensed physician or the discontinuance of mental health care provided by a licensed health care practitioner; or

(6) Holds out, states, indicates, advertises or implies to any person that he or she is an Illinois licensed health care practitioner.

(c) An unlicensed practitioner who violates this Section shall be guilty of a petty offense and fined an amount not to exceed $500 for each offense as determined by the court, plus any court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, and the reasonable costs of investigation and prosecution.

Section 15. Unlicensed service.

(a) Any unlicensed person providing hypnotism services shall, prior to providing those services, disclose to the client in a plainly worded written statement:

(1) that he or she is not a physician or licensed healthcare provider in Illinois;

(2) the nature of the services to be provided and the theory upon which the services are based;

(3) the academic or professional degrees held, including the accreditation or lack of accreditation of such degrees by an agent recognized by the United States Department of Education;

(4) his or her training, experience, credentials, or other qualifications regarding the hypnotism services being provided, including whether such training was obtained from a school that has been approved by this State to offer such training, or from a school in another state that has licensure, accreditation, or approval system as rigorous as this State; and

(5) that the consumer of hypnotism services has a right to coordinated transfer of services of another practitioner or professional, the right to refuse services at any time, the right to be free of physical, verbal, or sexual abuse, the right to know the expected duration of services and the cost, and that he or she may assert any right without retaliation.

(b) An unlicensed person providing hypnotism services shall:

(1) obtain written acknowledgment from the client stating that he or she has been provided with the information described in this Section, which shall be maintained by the person providing the services for 3 years. The client shall be provided with a copy of this written acknowledgement; and

(2) state in any display advertisement that he or she is not a licensed health care practitioner in Illinois.

(c) An unlicensed practitioner who violates this Section shall be guilty of a petty offense and fined an amount not to exceed $500 for each offense as determined by the court, plus any court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, and the reasonable costs of investigation and prosecution.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.