Bill Text: NY S06044 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Establishes fetal and infant mortality review boards to study fetal and infant mortality and morbidity and make recommendations on policies, best practices, and strategies to reduce fetal and infant mortality and morbidity.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-06-04 - referred to health [S06044 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S06044-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6044--B 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 27, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. BAILEY, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health -- recommitted to the Committee on Health in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- reported favorably from said committee and committed to the Committee on Finance -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the public health law and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to establishing fetal and infant mortal- ity review boards 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 2509-b to read as follows: 3 § 2509-b. Fetal and infant mortality review board. 1. For the purposes 4 of this section, unless the context requires otherwise: 5 (a) "Board" means a fetal and infant mortality review board estab- 6 lished by this section, referred to in this section as the "state 7 board", or a board operating under this section established by the city 8 of New York, with or without an agreement with the commissioner, 9 referred to in this section as the "city board". 10 (b) "Fetal and infant death" means pregnancy loss that ends in miscar- 11 riage or stillbirth, or infant deaths within one year of birth. 12 (c) "Severe fetal and infant morbidity" or "morbidity" means unantic- 13 ipated outcomes of pregnancy, labor, or delivery that result in signif- 14 icant short- or long-term consequences to a child's health. 15 (d) "City commissioner" means the commissioner of the New York city 16 department of health and mental hygiene. 17 2. (a) There is hereby established in the department the fetal and 18 infant mortality review board for the purpose of reviewing fetal and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10339-04-4S. 6044--B 2 1 infant deaths and fetal and infant morbidity and developing and dissem- 2 inating findings, recommendations, and best practices to contribute to 3 the prevention of fetal and infant mortality and morbidity. The board 4 shall assess the cause of death, factors leading to death and preventa- 5 bility for each fetal and infant death reviewed and, in the discretion 6 of the board, cases of severe fetal and infant morbidity, and shall 7 develop and disseminate strategies for reducing the risk of fetal and 8 infant mortality and morbidity, including risk resulting from racial, 9 economic, or other disparities. The commissioner may delegate the 10 authority to conduct fetal and infant mortality reviews. 11 (b) The commissioner may enter into an agreement with the city of New 12 York providing: 13 (i) that the functions of the state board relating to fetal and infant 14 deaths and severe fetal and infant morbidity occurring within the city 15 of New York shall be conducted by the city board; 16 (ii) the city board shall provide to the state board the results of 17 its reviews, relevant information in the possession of the city board, 18 and the recommendations of the city board; and 19 (iii) the department and the state board shall provide information and 20 assistance to the city board for the performance of its functions. 21 (c) Nothing in this section shall prevent the city of New York from 22 establishing, without an agreement with the commissioner, a board relat- 23 ing to fetal and infant deaths and severe fetal and infant morbidity 24 occurring within the city of New York. 25 3. (a) The members of the state board shall be comprised of multidis- 26 ciplinary experts in the field of fetal and infant mortality, fetal, 27 neonatal and infant health and public health, maternal health, obstet- 28 rics and gynecology, and shall include health care professionals or 29 other experts who serve and are representative of the racial, ethnic, 30 and socioeconomic diversity of the state and, to the extent possible, 31 the medically underserved areas of the state or areas of the state with 32 disproportionately high occurrences of fetal and infant mortality or 33 morbidity. 34 (b) The state board shall be composed of nine members, appointed as 35 follows: three members shall be appointed by the governor; two 36 members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly; two members 37 shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate; one member 38 shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; and one 39 member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly. 40 (c) The terms of the state board members shall be three years. The 41 commissioner may choose to reappoint state board members to additional 42 three-year terms. 43 (d) A majority of the appointed membership of the state board, but no 44 less than five, shall constitute a quorum. 45 (e) When any member of the state board fails to attend three consec- 46 utive regular meetings, unless good cause is shown for such absence, 47 that membership may be deemed vacant for purposes of the appointment of 48 a successor. 49 (f) Meetings of the state board shall be held at least twice a year 50 but may be held more frequently as deemed necessary, subject to request 51 of the department. 52 (g) Members of the state and city boards shall be indemnified under 53 section seventeen of the public officers law or section fifty-k of the 54 general municipal law, as the case may be.S. 6044--B 3 1 (h) Members of the state board shall not be compensated for their 2 participation on the board but shall receive reimbursement for their 3 ordinary and necessary expenses of participation. 4 (i) Membership on a board shall not disqualify any person from holding 5 any public office or employment. 6 4. (a) The commissioner may request and shall receive upon request 7 from any department, division, board, bureau, commission, local health 8 departments or other agency of the state or political subdivision there- 9 of or any public authority, such information, including but not limited 10 to death records, medical records, autopsy reports, toxicology reports, 11 hospital discharge records, birth records and any other information that 12 will help the department under this section to properly carry out its 13 functions, powers and duties. The commissioner, or the city commissioner 14 for the fetal and infant deaths or fetal and infant morbidity occurring 15 within the vital statistics registration district of the city of New 16 York, may request and shall receive upon request from any department, 17 division, board, commission or other agency under the authority of the 18 city of New York as well as hospitals established pursuant to article 19 twenty-eight of this chapter, birthing facilities, medical examiners, 20 coroners and coroner physicians and any other facility providing 21 services associated with fetal and infant mortality or fetal and infant 22 morbidity, such information, including, but not limited to, death 23 records, medical records, autopsy reports, toxicology reports, hospital 24 discharge records, birth records and any other information that will 25 help the department under this section to properly carry out its func- 26 tions, powers and duties. 27 (b) The commissioner and the city commissioner shall receive and may 28 solicit voluntary information, including oral or written statements, 29 relating to any fetal and infant death and case of severe fetal and 30 infant morbidity, from any family member or other interested party 31 relating to any case that may come before the board. Oral statements 32 received under this paragraph shall be transcribed or summarized in 33 writing. The commissioner and the city commissioner shall transmit that 34 information to the board considering the case. 35 (c) Before transmitting any information to the board, the commissioner 36 or the city commissioner shall remove all personal identifying informa- 37 tion of the fetus or infant, individuals experiencing pregnancy loss or 38 parents of infant, health care practitioner or practitioners, or anyone 39 else individually named in such information, as well as the hospital or 40 facility that treated the fetus or infant, and any other information 41 such as geographic location that may inadvertently identify the fetus or 42 infant, practitioner, or facility. 43 (d) Information received or transmitted under this section is not 44 admissible in any civil, administrative, criminal, or family court 45 proceeding that seeks to punish or prosecute the pregnant or birthing 46 person and shall not be used as a basis of a report to the statewide 47 central register of child abuse and maltreatment. 48 5. Each board: 49 (a) shall collect and perform case reviews of fetal and infant deaths; 50 (b) shall make and report findings and recommendations to the commis- 51 sioner, and in the case of the city board to the commissioner and the 52 city commissioner regarding the cause of death, factors leading to 53 death, and preventability of each fetal or infant death case, and each 54 case of severe fetal or infant morbidity reviewed by the board, by 55 reviewing relevant information for each case in the state or the city of 56 New York, as the case may be, and consulting with experts as needed toS. 6044--B 4 1 evaluate the information for each death; provided that no information 2 which, alone or in combination, would permit an individual who experi- 3 enced a pregnancy loss or infant death to be identified may be requested 4 or shared with consulting experts, and that information reviewed or 5 findings made by the board shall not be admissible in any civil, admin- 6 istrative, criminal, or family court proceeding and shall not be used as 7 a basis of a report to the statewide central register of child abuse and 8 maltreatment; 9 (c) shall develop and deliver to the commissioner, and in the case of 10 the city board to the commissioner and the city commissioner for areas 11 of focus, recommendations on: 12 (i) issues of severe fetal and infant morbidity; 13 (ii) addressing social determinants of fetal and infant health, 14 including racial, economic or other historical and contemporary injus- 15 tices which lead to disparities in fetal and infant outcomes; 16 (iii) policies, best practices, and strategies to reduce fetal and 17 infant mortality and morbidity; 18 (iv) methods of improving services and resources; and 19 (v) methods of implementing continuous quality improvement in fetal 20 and infant mortality and morbidity; 21 (d) shall issue an annual public report on its findings and recommen- 22 dations and may also issue public reports more frequently; 23 (e) shall identify and address systemic community conditions contrib- 24 uting to fetal and infant deaths; 25 (f) shall implement a surveillance system to monitor incidence, etiol- 26 ogies, and contributing factors and which can describe effects of health 27 care system change; 28 (g) shall identify system wide challenges to improving fetal and 29 infant health care; 30 (h) may, in addition to the findings and recommendations made under 31 this subdivision, and consistent with all applicable confidentiality 32 protections, bring any particular matter to the attention of the commis- 33 sioner or the city commissioner, and in the case of the city board to 34 the commissioner and the city commissioner; and 35 (i) may request and shall receive the assistance of the commissioner 36 in the instance of the state board and the city commissioner in the 37 instance of the city board in carrying out its functions. 38 6. The commissioner and the city commissioner and the state and city 39 boards shall each keep confidential any information collected or 40 received under this section that includes personal identifying informa- 41 tion of the fetus or infant, fetus or infant's parents, health care 42 practitioner or practitioners, or anyone else individually named in such 43 information, as well as the hospital or facility that treated the fetus 44 or infant, and any other information such as geographic location that 45 may inadvertently identify the fetus or infant, the fetus or infant's 46 parents, practitioner, or facility, and shall use the information 47 provided or received under this section solely for the purposes of 48 improvement of the quality of fetal and infant health care and to 49 prevent fetal and infant mortality and morbidity. This subdivision shall 50 not preclude the transmitting of information to the board that is 51 reasonably necessary to enable the board to perform an appropriate 52 review under this section. All records received, meetings conducted, 53 reports, except those public reports required to be issued by the board 54 by this section, and records made and maintained and all books and 55 papers obtained by the board shall be confidential and shall not be made 56 open or available, including under article six of the public officersS. 6044--B 5 1 law, and shall be limited to board members as well as those authorized 2 by the commissioner or city commissioner. Such information shall not be 3 discoverable or admissible as evidence in any action in any court or 4 before any other tribunal, board, agency or person. 5 7. The commissioner and the city commissioner, within their respective 6 legal authority, may use the recommendations and findings of the boards 7 to develop guidance and other actions relating to best practices, and 8 shall disseminate information relating to that guidance and other 9 actions to appropriate health care providers. 10 § 2. The administrative code of the city of New York is amended by 11 adding a new section 17-166.1 to read as follows: 12 § 17-166.1 Fetal and infant mortality review board. a. For the 13 purposes of this section, unless the context requires otherwise: 14 (1) "Review board" means the fetal and infant mortality review board 15 established by this section. 16 (2) "Fetal and infant death" means pregnancy loss that ends in miscar- 17 riage or stillbirth, or infant deaths within one year of birth. 18 (3) "Severe fetal and infant morbidity" or "morbidity" means unantic- 19 ipated outcomes of pregnancy, labor, or delivery that result in signif- 20 icant short- or long-term consequences to a child's health. 21 b. There is hereby established in the department the fetal and infant 22 mortality review board for the purpose of reviewing fetal and infant 23 deaths and fetal and infant morbidity and developing and disseminating 24 findings, recommendations, and best practices to contribute to the 25 prevention of fetal and infant mortality and morbidity. The review 26 board shall assess the cause of death, factors leading to death and 27 preventability for each fetal and infant death reviewed and, in the 28 discretion of the review board, cases of severe fetal and infant 29 morbidity, and shall develop and disseminate strategies for reducing 30 the risk of fetal and infant mortality and morbidity, including 31 risk resulting from racial, economic, or other disparities. The 32 commissioner may delegate the authority to conduct fetal and infant 33 mortality reviews. 34 c. (1) The members of the review board shall be comprised of multidis- 35 ciplinary experts in the field of fetal and infant mortality, fetal, 36 neonatal and infant health and public health, maternal health, obstet- 37 rics and gynecology, and shall include health care professionals or 38 other experts who serve and are representative of the racial, ethnic, 39 and socioeconomic diversity of the city of New York and, to the extent 40 possible, the medically underserved areas of the city of New York or 41 areas of the city of New York with disproportionately high occurrences 42 of fetal and infant mortality or morbidity. 43 (2) The review board shall be composed of nine members, all of whom 44 shall be appointed by the commissioner. 45 (3) The terms of the review board members shall be three years. The 46 commissioner may choose to reappoint review board members to additional 47 three-year terms. 48 (4) A majority of the appointed membership of the review board, but no 49 less than five, shall constitute a quorum. 50 (5) When any member of the review board fails to attend three consec- 51 utive regular meetings, unless good cause is shown for such absence, 52 that membership may be deemed vacant for purposes of the appointment of 53 a successor. 54 (6) Meetings of the review board shall be held at least twice a year 55 but may be held more frequently as deemed necessary, subject to request 56 of the department.S. 6044--B 6 1 (7) Members of the review board shall be indemnified under section 2 seventeen of the public officers law or section fifty-k of the general 3 municipal law, as the case may be. 4 (8) Members of the review board shall not be compensated for their 5 participation on the review board but shall receive reimbursement for 6 their ordinary and necessary expenses of participation. 7 (9) Membership on the review board shall not disqualify any person 8 from holding any public office or employment. 9 d. (1) The commissioner may request and shall receive upon request 10 from any department, division, board, bureau, commission, local health 11 department or other agency of the state or political subdivision thereof 12 or any public authority, such information, including but not limited to 13 death records, medical records, autopsy reports, toxicology reports, 14 hospital discharge records, birth records and any other information that 15 will help the department under this section to properly carry out its 16 functions, powers and duties. The commissioner may request and shall 17 receive upon request from any department, division, board, commission or 18 other agency under the authority of the city of New York as well as 19 hospitals established pursuant to article twenty-eight of the public 20 health law, birthing facilities, medical examiners, coroners and coroner 21 physicians and any other facility providing services associated with 22 fetal and infant mortality or fetal and infant morbidity, such informa- 23 tion, including, but not limited to, death records, medical records, 24 autopsy reports, toxicology reports, hospital discharge records, birth 25 records and any other information that will help the department under 26 this section to properly carry out its functions, powers and duties. 27 (2) The commissioner shall receive and may solicit voluntary informa- 28 tion, including oral or written statements, relating to any fetal and 29 infant death and case of severe fetal and infant morbidity, from any 30 family member or other interested party relating to any case that may 31 come before the review board. Oral statements received under this para- 32 graph shall be transcribed or summarized in writing. The commissioner 33 shall transmit that information to the review board considering the 34 case. 35 (3) Before transmitting any information to the review board, the 36 commissioner shall remove all personal identifying information of the 37 fetus or infant, individuals experiencing pregnancy loss or parents of 38 the infant, health care practitioner or practitioners, or anyone else 39 individually named in such information, as well as the hospital or 40 facility that treated the fetus or infant, and any other information 41 such as geographic location that may inadvertently identify the fetus or 42 infant, fetus or infant's family, practitioner, or facility. 43 (4) Information received or transmitted under this section is not 44 admissible in any civil, administrative, criminal, or family court 45 proceeding that seeks to punish or prosecute the pregnant or birthing 46 person and shall not be used as a basis of a report to the Statewide 47 Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment. 48 e. The review board: 49 (1) shall collect and perform case reviews of fetal and infant deaths; 50 (2) shall make and report findings and recommendations to the commis- 51 sioner regarding the cause of death, factors leading to death, and 52 preventability of each fetal or infant death case, and each case of 53 severe fetal or infant morbidity reviewed by the review board, by 54 reviewing relevant information for each case in the city of New York and 55 consulting with experts as needed to evaluate the information for each 56 death provided that no information which, alone or in combination, wouldS. 6044--B 7 1 permit an individual who experienced a pregnancy loss or infant death to 2 be identified may be requested or shared with consulting experts, and 3 that information reviewed or findings made by the board shall not be 4 admissible in any civil, administrative, criminal, or family court 5 proceeding and shall not be used as a basis of a report to the Statewide 6 Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment; 7 (3) shall develop and deliver to the commissioner recommendations on: 8 (A) issues of severe fetal and infant morbidity; 9 (B) addressing social determinants of fetal and infant health, includ- 10 ing racial, economic or other historical and contemporary injustices 11 which lead to disparities in fetal and infant outcomes; 12 (C) policies, best practices, and strategies to reduce fetal and 13 infant mortality and morbidity; 14 (D) methods of improving services and resources; and 15 (E) methods of implementing continuous quality improvement in fetal 16 and infant mortality and morbidity; 17 (4) shall issue an annual public report on its findings and recommen- 18 dations and may also issue public reports more frequently; 19 (5) shall identify and address systemic community conditions contrib- 20 uting to fetal and infant deaths; 21 (6) shall implement a surveillance system to monitor incidence, etiol- 22 ogies, and contributing factors and which can describe effects of health 23 care system change; 24 (7) shall identify system wide challenges to improving fetal and 25 infant health care; 26 (8) may, in addition to the findings and recommendations made under 27 this subdivision, and consistent with all applicable confidentiality 28 protections, bring any particular matter to the attention of the commis- 29 sioner; and 30 (9) may request and shall receive the assistance of the commissioner 31 in carrying out its functions. 32 f. The commissioner and the review board shall each keep confidential 33 any information collected or received under this section that includes 34 personal identifying information of the fetus or infant, the fetus or 35 infant's parents, health care practitioner or practitioners, or anyone 36 else individually named in such information, as well as the hospital or 37 facility that treated the fetus or infant, and any other information 38 such as geographic location that may inadvertently identify the fetus or 39 infant, the fetus or infant's parents, practitioner, or facility, and 40 shall use the information provided or received under this section solely 41 for the purposes of improvement of the quality of fetal and infant 42 health care and to prevent fetal and infant mortality and morbidity. 43 This subdivision shall not preclude the transmitting of information to 44 the review board that is reasonably necessary to enable the review board 45 to perform an appropriate review under this section. All records 46 received, meetings conducted, reports, except those public reports 47 required to be issued by the review board by this section, and records 48 made and maintained and all books and papers obtained by the review 49 board shall be confidential and shall not be made open or available, 50 including under article six of the public officers law, and shall be 51 limited to review board members as well as those authorized by the 52 commissioner. Such information shall not be discoverable or admissible 53 as evidence in any action in any court or before any other tribunal, 54 board, agency or person. 55 g. The commissioner may use the recommendations and findings of the 56 review board to develop guidance and other actions relating to bestS. 6044--B 8 1 practices, and shall disseminate information relating to that guidance 2 and other actions to appropriate health care providers. 3 § 3. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a 4 law.
