154A.20 Rights of purchaser.

1. A hearing aid specialist shall deliver, to each person supplied with a hearing aid, a receipt which contains the licensee’s signature and shows the licensee’s business address and the number of the license, together with specifications as to the make, model, and serial number of the hearing aid furnished, and full terms of sale clearly stated, including the date of consummation of the sale of the hearing aid. If a hearing aid is sold which is not new, the receipt and the container must be clearly marked “used” or “reconditioned”, with the terms of guarantee, if any.

2. The receipt shall bear the following statement in type no smaller than the largest used in the body copy portion of the receipt:

The purchaser has been advised that any examination or representation made by a licensed hearing aid specialist in connection with the fitting or selection and selling of this hearing aid is not an examination, diagnosis, or prescription by a person licensed to practice medicine in this state and therefore, must not be regarded as medical opinion or advice.

3. Whenever any of the following conditions are found to exist either from observations by the licensed hearing aid specialist or person holding a temporary permit or on the basis of information furnished by a prospective hearing aid user, the hearing aid specialist or person holding a temporary permit shall, prior to fitting and selling a hearing aid to any individual, suggest to that individual in writing that the individual’s best interests would be served if the individual would consult a licensed physician specializing in diseases of the ear, or if no such licensed physician is available in the community, then a duly licensed physician:

a. Visible congenital or traumatic deformity of the ear.

b. History of, or active drainage from the ear within the previous ninety days.

c. History of sudden or rapidly progressive hearing loss within the previous ninety days.

d. Acute or chronic dizziness.

e. Unilateral hearing loss of sudden or recent onset within the previous ninety days.

f. Significant air-bone gap greater than or equal to 15dB ANSI 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz. average.

g. Obstruction of the ear canal, by structures of undetermined origin, such as foreign bodies, impacted cerumen, redness, swelling, or tenderness from localized infections of the otherwise normal ear canal.

4. A copy of the written recommendation shall be retained by the licensed hearing aid specialist for the period of seven years. A person receiving the written recommendation who elects to purchase a hearing aid shall sign a receipt for the same, and the receipt shall be kept with the other papers retained by the licensed hearing aid specialist for the period of seven years. Nothing in this section required to be performed by a licensed hearing aid specialist shall mean that the hearing aid specialist is engaged in the diagnosis of illness or the practice of medicine or any other activity prohibited by this chapter.

5. No hearing aid shall be sold by any individual licensed under this chapter to a person twelve years of age or younger, unless within the preceding six months a recommendation for a hearing aid has been made by a physician specializing in otolaryngology. A replacement of an identical hearing aid within one year shall be an exception to this requirement.

6. A licensed hearing aid specialist shall, upon the consummation of a sale of a hearing aid, keep and maintain records in the specialist’s office or place of business at all times and each such record shall be kept and maintained for a seven-year period. These records shall include:

a. Results of test techniques as they pertain to fitting of the hearing aids.

b. A copy of the written receipt and the written recommendation.

[C75, 77, 79, 81, §154A.20]

2001 Acts, ch 58, §18; 2002 Acts, ch 1119, §17, 18; 2015 Acts, ch 57, §10