What to Report to the Idaho Board of Medicine: visit the Dietitian Licensure Board
- individual practicing as an RDN in Idaho without an Idaho license.
- licensees who violate code of ethics or standards of practice, have committed felonies or fraud, failed to maintain patient confidentiality, abused or exploited a patient, or demonstrated an incapacity to practice (such as: mental illness, substance abuse).
Listed below are examples of direct patient harm, financial harm and other adverse events to report to the Idaho Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Consumer Protection Coordinator. To submit a report visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FDLHHZZ
1. Direct patient harm
- client with congestive heart failure advised to use sea salt and discontinue sodium restricted diet, client admitted to hospital.
- client experiences change in clinical or biochemical status which would have likely been stable/improved if appropriate recommendations had been made.
- client with diabetes advised to discontinue insulin and fast to reduce blood glucose levels, client admitted with diabetic ketoacidosis.
2. Financial harm
- recommendation for unproven supplements or weight loss treatments that are unnecessary/contra-indicated
- having to pay for additional healthcare to correct the physical and emotional harm caused by a dangerous treatment recommendation
3. Issues recommendation in direct conflict with evidence-based MNT:
- underweight cancer patient is advised to eat only raw fruits and vegetables-patient experiences significant weight loss and inadequate protein intake
- practitioner sells high protein supplements to patient with advanced kidney disease
- practitioner fails to consider interaction of food with medication when recommending patient taking Zocor eat grapefruit to support weight loss
4. Failure to refer to licensed professional or hospital when clinically appropriate.
When reporting to the Idaho Academy:
- it is helpful to include the name and contact information of the person who was harmed
- permission must be obtained from the client to avoid HIPPA conflict
- it is recommended the reporter keep and file written permission from the client unless the client is the person reporting
- having a name provides more weight to the complaint but is not necessary if the client or reporter does not want to include this information
