BILL NUMBER: AB 1683 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 12, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jones
( Coauthor: Senator Vidak
)
FEBRUARY 13, 2014
An act to add Section 103886 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to disease reporting.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1683, as amended, Jones. Ken Maddy California Cancer Registry.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to
establish a statewide system for the collection of information
determining the incidence of cancer known as the Ken Maddy California
Cancer Registry. Existing law authorizes the department to designate
any demographic parts of the state as regional cancer incidence
reporting areas and establish regional cancer registries to provide
cancer incidence data. Under existing law, all cancers diagnosed or
treated in the reported area are required to be reported to the
representative of the department authorized to compile that data, or
any other person or entity designated to cooperate with that
representative. Existing regulations require cancer reporting
facilities and physicians to employ a mechanism to ensure that their
patients are informed that the facility will report each patient with
cancer to the State Department of Public Health as required by law.
Under existing law, health care practitioners, including, among
others, physicians and surgeons, and any hospital or other facility
providing diagnostic or treatment services to patients with cancer
are required to grant to the department or the authorized
representative access to all records that would identify cases of
cancer or would establish characteristics of the cancer, treatment of
the cancer, or medical status of any identified cancer patient. All
information collected pursuant to those provisions is generally
required to be kept confidential. Existing law authorizes the
department to enter into agreements to furnish confidential
information to specified persons and entities, including other states'
cancer registries, local health officers, and h ealth
researchers.
This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to
inform a patient diagnosed with cancer by, or receiving
cancer therapy treatment from from, a
specified health care practitioner, or a hospital or other
facility providing therapy to that patient within
an area designated as a cancer reporting area of the reporting
requirement , and would require the department to also notify a
patient of specified information, including, among other things, that
the department is authorized to release confidential patient
information to health researchers . This bill would require the
department to notify the patient , in a cost-effective manner,
within 6 months of his or her case being reported to the
department. The bill would also prohibit the department from
disclosing confidential patient information to certain specified
persons or entities until the department informs the patient of the
reporting requirement. The bill would also allow a patient to refuse
to participate in any research study and authorizes a patient to
request that his or her contact information be withheld from health
researchers.
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. Section 103886 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
103886. (a) (1) A patient diagnosed with
cancer , or provided treatment for cancer, by a physician
and surgeon, dentist, podiatrist, or other health care practitioner
or a patient receiving cancer therapy treatment from any hospital or
other facility providing therapy to that patient
within an area designated as a cancer reporting area shall be
informed by the department of the reporting requirement described in
subdivision (d) of Section 103885. The
(2) The department shall notify the
patient of all of the following information:
(A) A description of the cancer registry, as provided in
subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 103885.
(B) An explanation of how the department obtains all records that
would identify cases of cancer and the type of information collected
by the department, as described in subdivision (f) of Section 103885.
(C) The purposes for which the information obtained by the
department is collected and intended to be used, as described in
subdivision (g) of Section 103885.
(D) The authorization of the department to release confidential
patient information to any person with a valid scientific interest,
other states' cancer registries, federal cancer control agencies,
local health officers, or health researchers, pursuant to subdivision
(g) of Section 103885.
(E) The discretion of a patient to refuse to participate in any
research study and to request that his or her contact information be
withheld, pursuant to subdivision (c).
(F) The benefits of participating in cancer research, including,
but not limited to, the opportunity to contribute to the discovery of
improved treatments and survival rates for cancer patients.
(3) The department shall notify
the patient of the reporting requirement and the information
described in paragraph (2) within six months of his or her case
being reported to the department.
(b) The department shall not disclose confidential information to
any persons, other states' cancer registries, federal cancer control
agencies, local health officers, or health researchers pursuant to
subdivision (g) of Section 103885, until the department
informs the patient of the reporting requirement described in
subdivision (d) of Section 103885.
(c) The patient may refuse to participate in any research study
and may request that his or her contact information be withheld from
those persons or health researchers who obtain the patient's
confidential information pursuant to Section 103885.
(d) All notifications to the patient required under this section
shall be distributed in a cost-effective manner , including, but
not limited to, by e-mail .
(e) The department shall adopt regulations as it determines are
necessary for the implementation of this section in accordance with
the Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.