CHAPTER 384b*
DIETITIAN-NUTRITIONISTS

      Sec. 20-206m. Definitions. As used in this section and sections 20-206n to 20-206t, inclusive:

      (1) "Department" means the Department of Public Health.

      (2) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Public Health.

      (3) "Nutrition assessment" means the evaluation of the nutrition needs of individuals and groups based upon appropriate biochemical, physical, and dietary data to determine nutrient needs and recommend appropriate nutrition intake including enteral and parental nutrition.

      (4) "Nutrition counseling" means advising and assisting individuals or groups on appropriate nutrition intake by integrating information from the nutrition assessment.

      (5) "Dietetics or nutrition practice" means the integration and application of the principles derived from the sciences of nutrition, biochemistry, food, physiology, and behavioral and social sciences to provide nutrition services that include: (A) Nutrition assessment; (B) the establishment of priorities, goals, and objectives that meet nutrition needs; (C) the provision of nutrition counseling in health and disease; (D) the development, implementation and management of nutrition care plans; and (E) the evaluation and maintenance of appropriate standards of quality in food and nutrition. The term "dietetics or nutrition practice" does not include the administration of nutrition by any route other than oral administration and does not include the issuance of orders for laboratory or other diagnostic tests or orders intended to be implemented by any person licensed pursuant to chapter 378.

      (P.A. 94-210, S. 12; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58.)

      History: P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995.

      Sec. 20-206n. Certification. Qualifications. (a) The department may, upon receipt of an application and fee of one hundred ninety dollars, issue a certificate as a dietitian-nutritionist to any applicant who has presented to the commissioner satisfactory evidence that (1) such applicant is certified as a registered dietitian by the Commission on Dietetic Registration, or (2) such applicant has (A) successfully passed a written examination prescribed by the commissioner, and (B) received a master's degree or doctoral degree, from an institution of higher education accredited to grant such degree by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education, with a major course of study which focused primarily on human nutrition or dietetics and which included a minimum of thirty graduate semester credits, twenty-one of which shall be in not fewer than five of the following content areas: (i) Human nutrition or nutrition in the life cycle, (ii) nutrition biochemistry, (iii) nutrition assessment, (iv) food composition or food science, (v) health education or nutrition counseling, (vi) nutrition in health and disease, and (vii) community nutrition or public health nutrition.

      (b) No certificate shall be issued under this section to any applicant against whom a professional disciplinary action is pending or who is the subject of an unresolved complaint.

      (P.A. 94-210, S. 13; P.A. 02-89, S. 49; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 219.)

      History: P.A. 02-89 amended Subsec. (a) to make technical changes for purposes of gender neutrality, deleted as obsolete Subsecs. (b) and (c) authorizing the commissioner, not later than January 1, 1996, to issue a certificate without examination to any applicant residing in this state on October 1, 1994, who meets certain educational and work experience requirements and redesignated Subsec. (d) as Subsec. (b); June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 amended Subsec. (a) to increase fee from $150 to $190.

      Sec. 20-206o. Certification without examination of applicants currently licensed or certified in another jurisdiction. The department may, upon receipt of an application and fee of one hundred ninety dollars, issue a certificate without examination to any person who presents proof of current licensure or certification as a dietitian or nutritionist in another state, the District of Columbia, or territory of the United States which maintains standards for certification determined by the department to be equal to or higher than those of this state. No certificate shall be issued under this section to any applicant against whom professional disciplinary action is pending or who is the subject of an unresolved complaint.

      (P.A. 94-210, S. 14; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 220.)

      History: June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 increased fee from $150 to $190.

      Sec. 20-206p. Use of title. No person who is not certified by the Department of Public Health as a dietitian-nutritionist shall represent himself as being so certified or use in connection with his name the term "Connecticut Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist", "Connecticut Certified Dietitian", "Connecticut Certified Nutritionist", or the letters "C.D.-N.", "C.D.", "C.N." or any other letters, words or insignia indicating or implying that he is a certified dietitian-nutritionist in this state. Any person who violates the provisions of this section or who obtains or attempts to obtain certification as a dietitian-nutritionist by any wilful misrepresentation or any fraudulent representation shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. Failure to renew a certificate in a timely manner shall not constitute a violation for the purposes of this section.

      (P.A. 94-210, S. 15; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58.)

      History: P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995.

      Sec. 20-206q. Verbal orders from physicians. When a physician conveys an order for a diet or means of nutritional support to a certified dietitian-nutritionist by verbal means for a patient in an institution, as defined in section 19a-490, such order shall be received and immediately committed to writing in the patient's chart by the certified dietitian-nutritionist. Any order so written may be acted upon by the institution's nurses and physician assistants with the same authority as if the order were received directly from the physician. Any order conveyed in this manner shall be countersigned by the physician within twenty-four hours unless otherwise provided by state or federal law or regulations.

      (P.A. 94-210, S. 16.)

      Sec. 20-206r. Renewal of certificates. Certificates issued under section 20-206n or 20-206o shall be renewed annually, subject to the provisions of section 19a-88, upon payment of a one-hundred-dollar renewal fee.

      (P.A. 94-210, S. 17; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 221.)

      History: June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 increased fee from $50 to $100.

      Sec. 20-206s. Disciplinary actions by department. The department may take any action set forth in section 19a-17 if the certificate holder fails to conform to the accepted standards of the dietitian-nutritionist profession, including, but not limited to, the following: Conviction of a felony; fraud or deceit in professional practice; illegal conduct; negligent, incompetent or wrongful conduct in professional activities; emotional disorder or mental illness; physical illness including, but not limited to, deterioration through the aging process; abuse or excessive use of drugs, including alcohol, narcotics or chemicals; wilful falsification of entries in any client or patient record; misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact in the obtaining or reinstatement of a dietitian-nutritionist certificate; or violation of any provision of sections 20-206m to 20-206t, inclusive.

      (P.A. 94-210, S. 18.)

      Sec. 20-206t. Construction of chapter. Nothing in sections 20-206m to 20-206s, inclusive, shall be construed as prohibiting the activities of: (1) A person who does not hold himself out to be a Connecticut certified dietitian-nutritionist, Connecticut certified dietitian or Connecticut certified nutritionist from engaging in dietetics or nutrition practice; (2) a person who does not hold himself out to be a Connecticut certified dietitian or Connecticut certified nutritionist from marketing or distributing food, food products or dietary supplements, from engaging in the explanation of the use, benefits or preparation of such products, from furnishing nutrition information related to any such products, or from the dissemination of information or literature related to any such products; (3) a person who does not hold himself out to be a Connecticut certified dietitian or Connecticut certified nutritionist from providing weight control services; (4) a person licensed or certified in this state under any other law from engaging in the profession or occupation for which such person is licensed or certified, provided such person does not hold himself out as being certified as a dietitian or nutritionist; (5) a person employed as a nutritionist by the government of the United States, or by the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children, if such person works solely under the direction and control of the organization by which such person is employed; (6) a student enrolled in an accredited academic program leading to certification, provided such student is clearly identified by a title which indicates his status as a student; or (7) a person registered as a diet technician by the Commission on Dietetic Registration under the supervision of a Connecticut certified dietitian-nutritionist in an institution as defined under section 19a-490.

      (P.A. 94-210, S. 19.)

      Secs. 20-206u to 20-206z. Reserved for future use.