Are sponsors allowed to pre-sign purchase agreements?

• A. Yes
• B. Not pre-sign purchase agreements
• C. Yes, with prior written consent
• D. Only for licensed sponsors

Answer: (B)

The key idea here is patient autonomy and proper consent for contractual terms. In hearing aid dispensing, the patient must review and personally sign a purchase agreement after being fully informed about options, pricing, warranties, and terms. Having a sponsor pre-sign on the patient’s behalf would bind the patient to terms before they’ve had a real opportunity to understand and choose, undermining informed consent and creating potential conflicts of interest or ethical concerns.

Even if there were a prior written consent from the patient, pre-signing by a sponsor still bypasses the necessary step of the patient actively agreeing to the contract terms. Licensing status or exceptions do not make this permissible, because the fundamental requirement is that the patient authorizes the purchase terms themselves.

So sponsors are not allowed to pre-sign purchase agreements.