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RESOLVED, That the Code of Ethics be amended as follows:
Preamble (paragraph 1)
The preservation of the highest standards of integrity and ethical principles is vital to the responsible discharge of obligations by speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. This Code of Ethics sets forth the fundamental principles and rules considered essential to this purpose.
Preamble (paragraph 3)
Any violation of the spirit and purpose of this Code shall be considered unethical. Failure to specify any particular responsibility or practice in this Code of Ethics shall not be construed as denial of the existence of such responsibilities or practices.
Preamble (paragraph 4)
The fundamentals of ethical conduct are described by Principles of Ethics and by Rules of Ethics as they relate to the conduct of research and scholarly activities and responsibility to persons served, the public, and speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists.
Principle of Ethics I
Individuals shall honor their responsibility to hold paramount the welfare of persons they serve professionally or participants in research and scholarly activities and shall treat animals involved in research in a humane manner.
Principle of Ethics I, Rule C
Individuals shall not discriminate in the delivery of professional services or the conduct of research and scholarly activities on the basis of race or ethnicity, gender, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability.
Principle of Ethics I, Rule E
Individuals who hold the Certificates of Clinical Competence shall not delegate tasks that require the unique skills, knowledge, and judgment that are within the scope of their profession to assistants, technicians, support personnel, students, or any nonprofessionals over whom they have supervisory responsibility. An individual may delegate support services to assistants, technicians, support personnel, students, or any other persons only if those services are adequately supervised by an individual who holds the appropriate Certificate of Clinical Competence.
Principle of Ethics I, Rule F
Individuals shall fully inform the persons they serve of the nature and possible effects of services rendered and products dispensed, and they shall inform participants in research about the possible effects of their participation in research conducted.
Principle of Ethics I, Rule K
Individuals shall adequately maintain and appropriately secure records of professional services rendered, research and scholarly activities conducted, and products dispensed and shall allow access to these records only when authorized or when required by law.
Principle of Ethics I, Rule L
Individuals shall not reveal, without authorization, any professional or personal information about identified persons served professionally or identified participants involved in research and scholarly activities unless required by law to do so or unless doing so is necessary to protect the welfare of the person or of the community or otherwise required by law.
Principle of Ethics I, Rule M
Individuals shall not charge for services not rendered, nor shall they misrepresent services rendered, products dispensed, or research and scholarly activities conducted.
Principle of Ethics II, Rule E
Individuals shall not require or permit their professional staff to provide services or conduct research activities that exceed the staff member's competence, level of education, training, and experience.
Principle of Ethics II, Rule F
Individuals shall ensure that all equipment used in the provision of services or to conduct research and scholarly activities is in proper working order and is properly calibrated.
Principle of Ethics III
Individuals shall honor their responsibility to the public by promoting public understanding of the professions, by supporting the development of services designed to fulfill the unmet needs of the public, and by providing accurate information in all communications involving any aspect of the professions, including dissemination of research findings and scholarly activities.
Principle of Ethics III, Rule A
Individuals shall not misrepresent their credentials, competence, education, training, experience, or scholarly or research contributions.
Principle of Ethics III, Rule D
Individuals shall not misrepresent diagnostic information, research, services rendered, or products dispensed; neither shall they engage in any scheme to defraud in connection with obtaining payment or reimbursement for such services or products.
Principle of Ethics III, Rule E
Individuals' statements to the public shall provide accurate information about the nature and management of communication disorders, about the professions, about professional services, and about research and scholarly activities.
And further
RESOLVED, That the revised Code of Ethics be effective as of January 1, 2003.
RATIONALE: In 2000, as proposed revisions of the Code of Ethics (ultimately approved in 2001) were submitted to the Legislative Council, some members of the research community suggested that the code undergo further review to ensure that that it adequately incorporated concepts related to ethical conduct in research and scholarly activities. The Board of Ethics heard a presentation by ASHA's Chief Staff Officer for Science and Research and received input from the Vice President for Research and Technology.
During discussions of whether more specificity regarding research ethics was needed, it was noted that while the conduct of most researchers is monitored by an institutional review board (IRB), there are practitioners and others who may be involved in conducting independent research-related activities not within the purview of an IRB. A subcommittee of the Board of Ethics then drafted proposed revisions to more specifically address research issues and submitted them for select peer review. Included in the select peer review process were members of the Legislative Council and Executive Board, as well as researchers. The Board of Ethics believed it was important to involve the LC early in the select peer review, so LC members would have the opportunity to seek input from their constituency and convey this input to the board.
The subcommittee considered the select peer review input, made additional changes, and presented the proposed revisions to the full Board of Ethics for consideration. During this review, the board also agreed to propose the following non-research related editorial changes: rewording of first sentence of third paragraph in the Preamble; addition of the word "students" in Principle I, Rule E; and the deletion of the footnote for Principle I, Rule M. In proposing the deletion of the footnote, the board noted that it was added during revision of an older version of the code when there may have been a need to provide more clarification regarding the use of the word misrepresentation. Because the definition provided in the footnote is now a commonly accepted one, and because no other terms used in the code are defined in this manner, the board suggests that it be deleted.
The Board of Ethics approved the proposed revisions for widespread peer review, which was conducted in May-June 2002. Announcements of the document's availability for peer review were posted on the Web, in Headliners and other e-mail subscriber lists, in The ASHA Leader, and at the May-June Legislative Council meeting. The document and peer review response form were made available online as well as upon request from the Action Center and Fax-on-Demand.
All comments received were analyzed carefully by staff, reviewed in written form by members of the Board of Ethics, and reviewed formally by the board members before and during a face-to-face meeting. The proposed changes were also reviewed by the Association's legal counsel. Input from the peer review and legal counsel was used in making further revisions, mainly editorial in nature. The proposed revisions were approved unanimously by the Board of Ethics at its August 2002 meeting.
OUTCOME(S): If adopted, ASHA members and certificate holders will have a Code of Ethics that more specifically includes research and scholarly activities in its provisions. If not adopted, the present ASHA Code of Ethics will be retained without the specific references to research ethics and will continue to apply to all ASHA members, certificate holders, applicants for membership and/or certification, and those participating in their clinical fellowship.
BUDGET IMPACT: Funds to implement this resolution should be minimal and consist of printing costs and costs of adding the new Code of Ethics to the ASHA Web site.
PROGRAMMATIC IMPACT: If approved, the revised ASHA Code of Ethics will become effective on January 1, 2003, and will provide more explicit references to research and scholarly activities.
If this resolution is not passed, these changes will not be made to the Code of Ethics, but the code will continue to apply to all ASHA members, holders of the Certificate of Clinical Competence, applicants for membership or certification, and Clinical Fellows preparing to meet certification requirements.
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