Consumer Protection
Registered dietitians have an ethical responsibility to the public for ensuring access to quality nutrition care while also preventing incidents of harm from inaccurate or unethical practice.
There are 3 main ways Massachusetts dietitians can report harm to consumers by unqualified practitioners:
- Use the Incident Reporting Tool, created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
- File a complaint report with the Massachusetts Department of Profession Licensure
- Follow your individual facility or business policy for reporting unsafe practice<
If you have additional questions or concerns regarding consumer protection or licensure, please contact MAND’s Consumer Protection Coordinator, Christine Weithman, cweithman09@gmail.com
Incident Reporting Tool- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:
The Incident Reporting Tool (IRT) was created to assist in the Academy’s efforts to protect the public, enhance the quality of nutrition care and promote self-regulation of the profession.
The information collected from the Incident Reporting Tool will be used to facilitate stakeholders and policymakers’ understanding of the value of qualified RDN care, including elected leaders, state agency officials, other health care providers and the public.
By enabling patients, members of the general public and health care practitioners to document examples of successful nutrition care showing the added value of qualified practitioners or report incidents of harm or unethical practice, the IRT fills a critical gap in the documentation of certain noteworthy incidents in the provision of nutrition care services across the country.
Registered dietitian nutritionists across the country are encouraged to note that the Academy/CDR Code of Ethics requires reporting of harm, and this tool provides a uniform and easy mechanism to do so and complements ethically-mandated reporting to state licensure boards.
Learn more about the Incident Reporting Tool here. The IRT FAQs can be found here.
Reporting violations to Massachusetts State Licensure Board:
It is appropriate to report to the Bureau of Health Professions Licensure if it can be proven that a licensee or unlicensed individual or business has violated an applicable licensed dietitian nutritionist statute or regulation or is not safely practicing their trade or profession. Grounds for complaints may include, among other things, failure to adhere to standards of practice, fraud, fraudulent procurement of a license, misuse of client funds or records, negligence, practice while impaired by alcohol or drugs, sexual misconduct, and unlicensed practice.
If you are not sure if a licensee’s actions rise to the level of misconduct, you may contact the Bureau of Health Professions Licensure- office of Public Protection to discuss your complaint by calling 617-973-0865.
Complete instructions for filing a complaint are found here.
The above information is available here:
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/file-a-complaint-against-a-health-care-professional-or-facility
