Bill Text: NY A02991 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires health care facilities to report incidents of a sexual offense to the departments of health and education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 26-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to health [A02991 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A02991-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          2991

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 1, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of A. GALLAHAN, BYRNES, HAWLEY, LEMONDES, MANKTELOW,
          DeSTEFANO, MORINELLO, J. M. GIGLIO, BRABENEC, DURSO, SIMPSON, TANNOUS-
          IS, MIKULIN, McDONOUGH, PALMESANO -- read once  and  referred  to  the
          Committee on Health

        AN  ACT  to  amend the public health law, in relation to reporting inci-
          dents of possible professional misconduct

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Clara's Law".
     2    §  2.  Subdivision  1  of  section 2803-e of the public health law, as
     3  added by chapter 866 of the laws of 1980, is amended  by  adding  a  new
     4  paragraph (c) to read as follows:
     5    (c)  Hospitals  and other facilities approved pursuant to this article
     6  shall make a report or cause a report to be made within thirty  days  of
     7  every separate allegation of a sexual offense, as defined in article one
     8  hundred  thirty  of  the  penal law, by a health care practitioner which
     9  involves a patient.
    10    § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 2803-e of  the  public  health  law,  as
    11  amended  by chapter 542 of the laws of 2000, is amended and a new subdi-
    12  vision 4 is added to read as follows:
    13    2. Reports of possible professional misconduct made pursuant  to  this
    14  section  shall  be  made  in  writing  to  the education department with
    15  respect to all individuals licensed  pursuant  to  title  eight  of  the
    16  education  law  except that such reports shall be made to the department
    17  of health in the case of physicians, physician's assistants and special-
    18  ist's assistants. Reports for all allegations of a sexual offense pursu-
    19  ant to paragraph (c) of this section shall be made to the department  of
    20  health in addition to the education department with respect to all indi-
    21  viduals  licensed  pursuant to title eight of the education law. Written
    22  reports shall include the following information:
    23    (a) name, address, profession and license number of the individual;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04919-01-3
        A. 2991                             2

     1    (b) a description of the action taken by the  hospital  including  the
     2  reason  for the action and the date thereof, or the nature of the action
     3  or conduct which led to the resignation  or  withdrawal,  and  the  date
     4  thereof, stated with sufficient specificity to allow a reasonable person
     5  to understand which of the reasons enumerated in subdivision one of this
     6  section  led  to  the action of the hospital or the resignation or with-
     7  drawal of the individual, and, if the reason was an act or  omission  of
     8  the individual, the particular act or omission;
     9    (c) any criminal conviction of which the hospital has knowledge; and
    10    (d)  such other information as the education department or the depart-
    11  ment of health shall require.
    12    4. For purposes of this section the term  "health  care  practitioner"
    13  shall mean a person licensed, certified or otherwise authorized to prac-
    14  tice under title eight of the education law.
    15    §  4.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    16  have become a law.