The legislature declares that it is a policy of this state that the practice of speech-language pathology and audiology is a privilege granted to qualified individuals and that, in order to safeguard the public health, safety, and welfare, to protect the public from incompetent, unscrupulous, and unauthorized persons, and from unprofessional conduct by speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and speech-language pathology assistants, it is necessary to provide regulatory authority over persons offering speech-language pathology and audiology services to the public.
La. R.S. § 37:2650