Bill Text: CA AB258 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Bill 258 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Organ transplants: medical marijuana: qualified patients.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-07-06 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 51, Statutes of 2015. [AB258 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB258-Chaptered.html

BILL NUMBER: AB 258	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  51
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 6, 2015
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 6, 2015
	PASSED THE SENATE  JUNE 22, 2015
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  APRIL 30, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 25, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Levine
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Leno)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Gipson, Jones-Sawyer, and Quirk)
   (Coauthor: Senator Hancock)

                        FEBRUARY 9, 2015

   An act to add Section 7151.36 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to organ transplants.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 258, Levine. Organ transplants: medical marijuana: qualified
patients.
    Existing law, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, an initiative
measure enacted by the approval of Proposition 215 at the November 6,
1996, statewide general election, authorizes the use of marijuana
for medical purposes. Existing law enacted by the Legislature
requires the establishment of a program for the issuance of
identification cards to qualified patients so that they may lawfully
use marijuana for medical purposes.
   Existing law, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, regulates the
making and distribution of organ donations.
   This bill would prohibit a hospital, physician and surgeon,
procurement organization, or other person from determining the
ultimate recipient of an anatomical gift based solely upon a
potential recipient's status as a qualified patient, as specified, or
based solely upon a positive test for the use of medical marijuana
by a potential recipient who is a qualified patient, except to the
extent that the qualified patient's use of medical marijuana has been
found by a physician and surgeon, following a case-by-case
evaluation of the potential recipient, to be medically significant to
the provision of the anatomical gift. The bill would provide that
these provisions shall not be deemed to require referrals or
recommendations for, or the performance of, medically inappropriate
organ transplants.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 7151.36 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
   7151.36.  (a) A hospital, physician and surgeon, procurement
organization, or other person shall not determine the ultimate
recipient of an anatomical gift based solely upon a potential
recipient's status as a qualified patient, as defined in Section
11362.7, or based solely upon a positive test for the use of medical
marijuana by a potential recipient who is a qualified patient, as
defined in Section 11362.7, except to the extent that the qualified
patient's use of medical marijuana has been found by a physician and
surgeon, following a case-by-case evaluation of the potential
recipient, to be medically significant to the provision of the
anatomical gift.
   (b) Subdivision (a) shall apply to each part of the organ
transplant process. The organ transplant process includes, but is not
limited to, all of the following:
   (1) The referral from a primary care provider to a specialist.
   (2) The referral from a specialist to a transplant center.
   (3) The evaluation of the patient for the transplant by the
transplant center.
   (4) The consideration of the patient for placement on the official
waiting list.
   (c) The court shall accord priority on its calendar and handle
expeditiously any action brought to seek any remedy authorized by law
for purposes of enforcing compliance with this section.
   (d) This section shall not be deemed to require referrals or
recommendations for, or the performance of, medically inappropriate
organ transplants.