Several incidents involving a sleep technician charged with felony and
misdemeanor sexual assault for inappropriately touching patients during
sleep tests has prompted the introduction of a bill calling
for sleep technician licensing.
Introduced by state Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, the “Polysomnographic
Technologist Act” Senate Bill 1125 aims to prevent criminal abuse and ensure
proper medical diagnosis, as well as ensure a standard of training and
accountability for the profession.
Sleep medicine has grown rapidly in the last few years. In California there
are more than 175 sleep laboratories, and 65% of personnel are not licensed,
according to the Respiratory Care Board of California. These figures will
continue to grow due to the growing demand for testing and the fact it is a
lucrative field.
