BILL ANALYSIS
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|Hearing Date:June 21, 2010 |Bill No:AB |
| |1980 |
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS
AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod, Chair
Bill No: AB 1980Author:Hayashi
As Amended:June 7, 2010 Fiscal: Yes
SUBJECT: Healing arts: Veterinary medicine.
SUMMARY: Changes the composition of the Veterinary Medical Board
(VMB); makes permanent the "multidisciplinary committee" of the VMB
and provides for additional duties of the committee; eliminates the
Registered Veterinary Technician Committee; specifies that the
practice of veterinary medicine also includes physical rehabilitation
or musculoskeletal manipulation upon an animal, unless otherwise
authorized by regulation of the VMB; prohibits the use of the title
"registered veterinary technician" unless registered with the VMB;
requires training for an "unregistered assistant" in the use of
radiation safety and techniques before they may operate radiographic
equipment; clarifies the reporting requirement for veterinarians who
must report any animal injuries which occurred at a rodeo event;
allows students in their final year of study in a veterinary
technology program to perform tasks of a registered veterinary
technician; exempts from liability veterinarians or registered
veterinarians who provide services during any state of war emergency,
a state of emergency, or local emergency.
NOTE : This measure is a new bill and was amended in this Committee.
The former language of this measure also dealt with the Veterinary
Medicine Practice Act.
Existing law, the Business and Professions Code:
1) Provides for the examination, licensing, and regulation of
approximately 9,800 veterinarians and 4,300 registered
veterinary technicians by the VMB in the Department of Consumer
Affairs.
AB 1980
Page 2
2) Establishes the VMB which consists of seven members, three of
whom are public members and four of whom are licensed
veterinarians, and requires the Governor to appoint the four
licensed veterinarians and the Senate Committee on Rules and
the Speaker of the Assembly to each appoint a public member,
and specifies the requirements for the veterinarian and public
members of the VMB.
3) Provides that the VMB shall become inoperative on July 1, 2011,
and, as of January 1, 2012, is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, which becomes effective on or before January 1, 2012,
deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes operative and
is repealed. Subjects the VMB to the process of sunset review
prior to its repeal.
4) Requires the VMB to appoint a voluntary, advisory
multidisciplinary committee of no more than nine members to
assist, advise, and make recommendations for the implementation
of rules and regulations necessary to ensure proper
administration and enforcement of the Veterinary Medicine
Practice Act (VMP Act), and provides that that the
multidisciplinary committee shall become inoperative on July 1,
2011, and repealed as of January 1, 2012.
5) Requires the VMB to establish an advisory committee on issues
pertaining to the practice of veterinary technicians, to be
known as the Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) Committee,
and provides that the duties of the RVT Committee include,
among other things, advising and assisting the VMB in the
examination of applicants for veterinary technician
registration, the inspection and approval of schools, and
developing regulations to establish animal health care tasks
and the appropriate degree of supervision.
6) Requires that the VMB shall, by means of examination, ascertain
the professional qualifications of all applicants for licensure
to practice veterinary medicine in this state and shall issue a
license to every person whom it finds to be qualified.
7) Prohibits the practice of veterinary medicine without a license
and specifies that a person practices veterinary medicine when
he or she, among other things, represents himself or herself as
engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine or administers
a treatment of whatever nature for the cure or relief of a
bodily injury or disease of an animal.
AB 1980
Page 3
8) Requires the examination for veterinarians to consist of a
licensing examination that is administered on a national basis,
a state board examination, and an examination concerning the
statutes and regulations of the VMP Act administered by the
VMB.
9) Provides that any person performing any of the tasks as
designated by the VMB and any person representing himself or
herself as a RVT in this state, shall hold a valid unexpired
certificate of registration as provided by the VMB.
10)Specifies that a registered veterinary technician means a
person who is registered by the VMB if they have passed a
written and practical examination, as specified, and have met
the following requirements:
a) Be at least 18 years of age.
b) Furnish satisfactory evidence of graduation from a
postsecondary institution approved by the VMB, and if a
private postsecondary institution, also approved by the
Bureau of Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education.
c) Completed the equivalent of education and clinical
experience as determined by the VMB.
11)Authorizes an RVT who has been examined by the VMB in the area
of radiation safety and techniques to operate radiographic
equipment under the indirect supervision of a licensed
veterinarian, and allows an "unregistered assistant" to operate
radiographic equipment under the direct supervision of a RVT or
licensed veterinarian.
Existing law, the Penal Code: Requires the attending or on-call
veterinarian at a rodeo event to submit a brief written listing of any
animal injury requiring veterinary treatment to the VMB within 48
hours of the conclusion of the event.
Existing law, the Government Code: Exempts certain healing arts
practitioners from liability for specified medical services rendered
during a state of war, state of emergency, or local emergency.
This bill:
1) Adds one RVT to the board, to be appointed by the Governor, and
specifies that the RVT shall be a bona fide resident of this state
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Page 4
for a period of at least five years immediately preceding his or
her appointment and shall have been registered with the VMB and
actually engaged in the practice of RVT during that period.
2) Extends the inoperative date and repeal date of the VMB to January
1, 2014.
3) Provides that the current multidisciplinary committee of the VMB
shall be re-named the "Veterinary Medicine Multidisciplinary
Advisory Committee" (VMMA Committee) and that in addition to its
current responsibilities it shall also assist the board in its
examination, licensure, and registration programs.
4) Prescribes the VMMA Committee composition and provides that it
shall consist of 7 members, 4 licensed veterinarians, 2 registered
veterinary technicians, and 1 public member, and requires members
to serve for 3-year terms, as specified. Also authorizes the VMB
to remove a member of the VMMA Committee for continued neglect of
duty, incompetence, or unprofessional conduct.
5) Provides that the VMMA Committee shall represent a sufficient cross
section of the interests in veterinary medicine in order to address
the issues before it, as determined by the VMB, including
veterinarians, RVTs, and members of the public.
6) Removes the inoperative date and repeal date of the VMMA Committee,
thereby making the committee operative indefinitely.
7) Makes the RVT Committee inoperative as of July 1 following the
initial appointment of a RVT to the VMB.
8) Provides that a person also practices veterinary medicine when he
or she performs physical rehabilitation or musculoskeletal
manipulation upon an animal, unless otherwise authorized by
regulation or the VMB.
9) Adds the reporting requirement under the Penal Code to the VMP Act
and would specify that this requirement applies regardless of
whether the attending or on-call veterinarian renders the treatment
to the animal, also requires that a veterinarian who subsequently
renders treatment to an animal known to be injured at a rodeo event
to report to the VMB within 7 days, and requires the report to
consist of specified information and for the VMB to post a form on
its website for purposes of this requirement.
10)Prohibits a person from using the title "registered veterinary
AB 1980
Page 5
technician" or "veterinary technician," or any other words,
letters, or symbols, including, but not limited to, the
abbreviation "R.V.T.," with the intent to represent that the person
is authorized to act as a registered veterinary technician, unless
he or she has met the specified requirements.
11)Requires an "unregistered assistant" to be trained in the area of
radiation safety and techniques in order to operate radiographic
equipment under the direct supervision of a RVT or licensed
veterinarian and would require the responsible managing licensee of
the veterinary premises to maintain records of that training. If
records do not exist of this training then the "unregistered
assistant" shall not operate radiographic equipment. The training
records shall be made available to the VMB upon request and at the
time of any inspection of the veterinary premises.
12)Provides that the requirements for examination and registration as
a RVT shall not apply to students in the clinical portion of their
final year of study in a board-approved California veterinary
technology program who perform the job tasks for RVTs as part of
their educational experience, including students both on and off
campus acting under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian "in
good standing," as defined. The VMB shall adopt regulations
defining the parameters of supervision for these students.
13)Makes other conforming technical and clarifying changes to the VMP
Act.
14)(Government Code) Similar to other health care practitioners,
exempts veterinarians and RVTs for services rendered to animals
during a state of war, state of emergency, or local emergency if
provided at the express or implied request of any responsible state
or local official or agency.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This measure has been keyed "fiscal" by
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose. The California Veterinary Medical Board (VMB) and the
California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) are Co-Sponsors of
this measure. According to the Sponsors, this measure is the
result of more than six months of collaboration between the VMB,
the CVMA and the California Registered Veterinary Technician
Association (CaRVTA). All three organizations identified segments
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Page 6
within the VMP Act that needed clarification or revision.
The Sponsors indicate that the measure, among other things, provides a
temporary, limited sunset date for the VMB, and increases the
membership on the board by one position to allow a RVT to have a
voice on the board. The bill also makes several important changes
to a very effective Multidiscipline Advisory Committee that was
established in 2008, including adding an additional RVT to that
committee, reducing the membership of the committee by two members,
making the committee permanent, and collapsing another advisory
committee for cost savings and efficiency.
The Sponsors further state that the bill makes revisions to the
current requirements for veterinarians to report injuries at
rodeos. Specifically, injuries occurring at a rodeo, but
subsequently treated by a veterinarian off of the premises of a
rodeo, must also be reported to the VMB. The bill, as noted by the
Sponsors, requires an employer to document the training of
employees on radiographic equipment and to make the paperwork
available to the VMB on request. The bill also strengthens the
Practice Act in the area of unlicensed activity surrounding animal
physical therapy and musculoskeletal manipulation. Finally, the
language is paralleled after the immunity provisions currently
provided in the Government Code for physicians, dentists, etc., who
assist under these same types of emergency scenarios.
The Sponsors believe that this measure is a well conceived consensus
product that will improve collaboration and enhance efficiency
within the VMB structure, as well as some much needed
clarifications to the existing Practice Act.
2. Related Legislation. AB 107 (Galgiani, Chapter 80, Statutes of
2009) clarified the appointment of members to the VMB by the
Governor; required the VMB to offer both a written and practical
examination at least twice a year until January 1, 2011, and after
that date, to offer a national examination and a state specific
examination on animal health care tasks; made other changes related
to reciprocity and temporary licensing requirements for
out-of-state veterinarians; clarified the enforcement actions that
may be taken against a registered veterinarian technician; and,
made other technical and conforming changes to the VMP Act.
SB 1584 (Padilla, Chapter 529, Statutes of 2008) increased the fees
charged for licensing of veterinarians and registration of RVTs;
required the VMB to appoint a voluntary, advisory,
multidisciplinary committee to assist, advise, and make
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Page 7
recommendations for the implementation of rules and regulations
necessary to ensure proper administration of the VMP Act; specified
changes in the membership terms and the composition of the RVT
Committee; amended the RVT exam eligibility requirements; required
the VMB to prioritize its investigative and prosecutorial resources
and establish a priority list for investigative and prosecutorial
resources; required the VMB to report annually and make publicly
available the number of disciplinary actions it takes, as
specified; made changes to the inspection and enforcement programs
of the VMB.
3. Arguments in Support. The CaRVTA is pleased to support this
measure and believes it accomplishes many of the long-standing
goals, the most important being adding a RVT to the VMB. The
CaRVTA is also pleased that veterinary technician students will be
able to perform duties reserved for RVTs as part of their course of
study once appropriate regulations are written. Another important
provision, as indicated by CaRVTA is the requirement for
documentation of radiation safety training for unregistered
assistants. The CaRVTA considers this particular provision
particularly important, since many veterinarians have been unaware
of the requirement of such training, which involves the safety of
both the assistants and the patients.
Action for Animals (AfA) is in strong support of this measure to amend
and improve the VMP Act, and in particular provisions which deal
with the rodeo reporting requirement for veterinarians. AfA points
out that California boasts one of the best and most progressive
rodeo animal welfare laws in the country but astoundingly in the
ten years of the law's existence, a total of only eight such
reports have been submitted to the VMB. In light of the 60
professional rodeos held annually in California, plus probably
double that number of amateur events, and untold number of
"charreadas" (the Mexican-style rodeos), there should be a minimum
of 50-60 such reports submitted annually, as argued by AfA. In
some instances AfA questioned veterinarians about reporting animal
injuries they observed and they were unaware the law existed, or
their obligations to report the animal injuries. The AfA believes
that these proposed changes to the Veterinary Practice Act to
include these reporting requirements should improve things
considerably. "It is a real good step in the right direction and
will undoubtedly help ameliorate the plight of rodeo animals, and
help educate rodeo veterinarians."
4. Suggested Technical Amendment. On page 9, lines 27 and 28, strike
the following:
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Page 8
" regardless of whether the veterinarian provides treatment to the
animal ."
This is redundant and confusing language. The attending veterinarian
would already be treating the animal and the on-call veterinarian
would also be treating the animal, and if not, then would not be
aware of the animal injury and therefore should not be required to
report. Under either circumstance, however, the attending
veterinarian or on-call veterinarian at a rodeo event would still
have to report any animal injury if they have knowledge that the
injury occurred at the rodeo.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
California Veterinary Medical Association (Co-Sponsor)
California Veterinary Medical Board (Co-Sponsor)
Action for Animals
California Registered Veterinary Technicians Association
Opposition: None on file as of June 16, 2010.
Consultant: Bill Gage