BILL NUMBER: SB 380	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Wright

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2011

   An act to add Section 2190.7 to the Business and Professions Code,
relating to medicine.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 380, as introduced, Wright. Continuing education: nutrition
course.
   Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, provides for the licensure
and regulation of physicians and surgeons by the Medical Board of
California. Under that act, the board is required to adopt and
administer standards for the continuing education of physicians and
surgeons. Existing law specifically requires physicians and surgeons
to complete a mandatory continuing education course in the subjects
of pain management and the treatment of terminally ill and dying
patients, except that it does not apply to physicians practicing in
pathology or radiology specialty areas. Existing law also authorizes
the board to adopt regulations exempting certain other physicians and
surgeons.
    This bill would require physicians and surgeons to complete, by
December 31, 2016, a mandatory continuing education course in the
subject of nutrition and life style behavior for the treatment of
chronic diseases, except that it would not apply to physicians
practicing in pathology or radiology specialty areas. The bill would
authorize the board to adopt regulations exempting from this
continuing education requirement physicians who do not engage in
direct patient care, do not provide patient consultations, or do not
reside in California.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) In 2008, U.S. health care spending was about $7,681 per
resident and accounted for 16.2 percent of the nation's Gross
Domestic Product; this is among the highest of all industrialized
countries. Expenditures in the United States on health care surpassed
$2.3 trillion in 2008, more than three times the $714 billion spent
in 1990, and over eight times the $253 billion spent in 1980.
   (b) It is estimated that health care costs for chronic disease
treatment account for over 75 percent of national health
expenditures.
   (c) 7 out of 10 deaths among Americans each year are from chronic
diseases. Heart disease, cancer, and stroke account for more than 50
percent of all deaths each year.
   (d) The last major report from the World Health Organization in
March 2003 concluded diet was a major factor in the cause of chronic
diseases.
   (e) Dramatic increases in chronic diseases have been seen in Asian
countries since the end of WWII with the increase in the Gross
National Product and change to the Western diet.
   (f) Only 19 percent of students believed that they had been
extensively trained in nutrition counseling. Fewer than 50 percent of
primary care physicians include nutrition or dietary counseling in
their patient visits.
   (g) Practicing physicians continually rate their nutrition
knowledge and skills as inadequate. More than one-half of graduating
medical students report that the time dedicated to nutrition
instruction is inadequate.
  SEC. 2.  Section 2190.7 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
   2190.7.  (a) All physicians and surgeons shall complete a
mandatory continuing education course in the subject of nutrition and
life style behavior for the treatment of chronic diseases. For the
purposes of this section, this course shall be a one-time requirement
of 12 credit hours within the required minimum established by
regulation, to be completed by December 31, 2016. All physicians and
surgeons licensed on and after January 1, 2012, shall complete this
requirement within four years of their initial license or by their
second renewal date, whichever occurs first. The board may verify
completion of this requirement on the renewal application form.
   (b) By regulatory action, the board may exempt a physician and
surgeon by practice status category from the requirement in
subdivision (a) if the physician and surgeon does not engage in
direct patient care, does not provide patient consultations, or does
not reside in the State of California.
   (c) This section shall not apply to physicians and surgeons
practicing in pathology or radiology specialty areas.