Bill Text: NY S01693 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to requiring a medical facility or related service to obtain express prior written consent before filming and/or broadcasting of visual images of a patient's medical treatment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-07-23 - referred to health [S01693 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S01693-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         1693--A
            Cal. No. 455

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 15, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. KRUEGER, ADDABBO, SERRANO -- read twice and ordered
          printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on  Health
          -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second
          report,  ordered  to  a  third reading, amended and ordered reprinted,
          retaining its place in the order of third reading

        AN ACT to amend the public health law  and  the  civil  rights  law,  in
          relation  to  prohibiting  the  making  and/or  broadcasting of visual
          images of individuals undergoing medical treatment without prior writ-
          ten consent

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

     1    Section  1.  The  public health law is amended by adding a new section
     2  2806-c to read as follows:
     3    § 2806-c. Restrictions on broadcasting of patients. 1.  Every  patient
     4  in a health care facility shall have the right to have privacy in treat-
     5  ment and in caring for personal needs, including the broadcasting of the
     6  recognizable  image  or speech of such patient involved in a health care
     7  procedure within the confines of such facility, with  the  exception  of
     8  broadcasting  such  image  or  speech  for the purposes of advancing the
     9  health care treatment of the individual, a  quality  assurance  program,
    10  the education or training of health care personnel, or necessary securi-
    11  ty purposes.
    12    2. Such privacy in treatment shall include the obtaining by the health
    13  care  facility  of  express  written consent on a separate document used
    14  solely for such purpose from an individual receiving treatment  in  such
    15  facility  prior to broadcasting the recognizable image or speech of such
    16  patient involved in such treatment. In  the  case  of  broadcasting  the
    17  recognizable  image  or  speech for education or training of health care
    18  personnel, the patient shall have the right to know of  and  shall  have
    19  the  right to refuse the broadcasting for that purpose. A person legally
    20  authorized to make health care decisions for the  patient  or  otherwise

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02693-07-9
        S. 1693--A                          2

     1  authorized to consent may grant such consent or exercise such refusal if
     2  the patient cannot reasonably do so due to such patient's incapacity.
     3    3. For the purposes of this section:
     4    (a) "health care facility" shall mean a residential health care facil-
     5  ity,  general hospital, free-standing ambulatory care facility, diagnos-
     6  tic and/or treatment center and clinic authorized under this article, or
     7  within the confines of an ambulance operated by an ambulance service  as
     8  defined by subdivision two of section three thousand one of this chapter
     9  or  by  a voluntary ambulance service as defined by subdivision three of
    10  section three thousand one of this chapter;
    11    (b) "quality assurance" shall mean any evaluation of services provided
    12  in or by a health care facility for purposes of improvement  in  safety,
    13  quality or outcomes;
    14    (c)  "education  or  training  of  health care personnel" shall mean a
    15  program of education or training of health care  personnel  or  students
    16  being  educated  or trained to be health care personnel, that the health
    17  care facility has authorized;
    18    (d) "broadcasting" of an image or speech shall  mean  transmission  by
    19  broadcast, cable, closed circuit, internet or other television or visual
    20  medium,  social  media,  or  other  system  by which it can be viewed in
    21  violation of the privacy rights and expectations of a patient.  Provided
    22  however, that broadcasting shall not include incidental transmission  of
    23  the  image  or  speech  of  an  individual being treated, transported or
    24  otherwise cared for or attended to by an ambulance service as defined in
    25  subdivision two of section three thousand one of this chapter  or  by  a
    26  voluntary  ambulance  service as defined in subdivision three of section
    27  three thousand one of this chapter,  at  an  ambulance  response  scene,
    28  public  area  or during delivery or admission to a health care facility,
    29  that is captured by news media, bystanders or others who do not have the
    30  written  consent  of  such  ambulance  service  or  voluntary  ambulance
    31  service.
    32    (e)  Nothing in this section shall apply where such recognizable image
    33  or speech is broadcast or conveyed as part of the news gathering process
    34  among professional journalists,  newscasters  or  other  individuals  or
    35  entities  defined  in  subdivision  (a) of section seventy-nine-h of the
    36  civil rights law, but not broadcast to the public.
    37    4. No health care facility, as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision
    38  three of this section, shall incur any liability under this section  for
    39  the broadcasting by a third party of the recognizable image or speech of
    40  a  patient involved in a health care procedure in the facility when such
    41  image or speech was obtained by the third party without the knowledge or
    42  consent of the facility or its staff.
    43    5.  Nothing in this section shall diminish  or  impair  any  right  or
    44  remedy otherwise applicable to any patient.
    45    §  2.  Section 50-c of the civil rights law, as amended by chapter 643
    46  of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
    47    § 50-c. Private right of action.  1. If the identity of the victim  of
    48  an offense defined in subdivision one of section fifty-b of this article
    49  is  disclosed  in  violation of such section, any person injured by such
    50  disclosure may bring an action to recover damages suffered by reason  of
    51  such  wrongful disclosure. In any action brought under this section, the
    52  court may award reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
    53    2. If the privacy of an individual as defined in section  twenty-eight
    54  hundred  six-c  of  the  public  health  law regarding the right to have
    55  privacy in treatment and in caring for  personal  needs,  including  the
    56  broadcasting  of  the recognizable image or speech of a patient involved
        S. 1693--A                          3

     1  in a health care procedure in such a facility has  been  violated,  such
     2  individual  or  his  or her estate representative may bring an action to
     3  recover damages suffered by reason of  such  violation.  In  any  action
     4  brought  under  this  section, the court may award reasonable attorney's
     5  fees to a prevailing plaintiff. The cause of action created herein shall
     6  survive the death of such individual and shall only apply to  violations
     7  occurring on and after the effective date of this subdivision.
     8    3. Nothing in this section shall diminish or impair any right or reme-
     9  dy otherwise applicable to any patient.
    10    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.