BILL NUMBER: AB 535 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 2, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ammiano
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
An act to add Section Sections 1418.92 and
102336 to the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section
11174.8 of the Penal Code, relating to elder death review teams.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 535, as amended, Ammiano. Elder death review teams: information
requests.
This bill would require a long-term health care facility to report
the death of a resident of the facility who is 65 years of age or
older to the elder death review team of the county in which the death
occurred within 24 hours of the death. The bill would make violation
of this provision a class "B" violation. Because this bill would
create a new crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law allows a county to establish an interagency elder
death review team to assist local agencies in identifying
and reviewing suspicious elder deaths. Under existing law, the team
may request specified information for their
its review, subject to prescribed confidentiality requirements.
This bill would allow the elder death review team to
request and obtain copies of certificates of death from the local
registrar of births and deaths, subject to any fee requirements.
Under existing law, deaths are required to be registered with the
local registrar of births and deaths in the district in which the
death occurs. Existing law requires the State Department of Public
Health to enforce the laws pertaining to vital records, including
certificates of death. Existing law requires the department to
implement an Internet-based electronic death registration system.
This bill would require the registrar of births and
deaths in a county that elects authorize the chair,
cochair, or an agent of the chair or cochair, of a county elder death
team to participate in the Internet-based electronic death
registration system to provide access
specified information to the chair, cochair, or the agent of
the chair or cochair upon request of a county death review team
.
Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses
and regulates health facilities, including long-term health care
facilities. The Long-Term Care, Health, Safety, and Security Act of
1973 imposes various requirements on long-term health facilities.
Violation of these provisions is punishable through administrative
penalties. Willful obstruction of the enforcement of the provisions
is a misdemeanor.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1418.92 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
1418.92. (a) A long-term health care facility shall report the
death of a resident of the facility who is 65 years of age or older
to the elder death review team of the county in which the death
occurred.
(b) The report required by subdivision (a) shall be made within 24
hours of the death of the resident and shall contain all of the
following information:
(1) Place of death.
(2) Time of death.
(3) Gender of decedent.
(c) Failure to comply with this section shall constitute a class
"B" violation.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 102336 is
added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
102336. Notwithstanding paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 11174.8 of the Penal Code, upon request, a local
registrar of births and deaths in a county that elects to
the chair, cochair, or an agent of the chair or cochair may
participate in the Internet-based electronic death registration
system established pursuant to Section 102778 shall
provide, from information obtained from the death certificates, to
the chair, cochair, or any agent of the chair or cochair of a county
elder death review team established pursuant to Article 2.7
(commencing with Section 1174.4) of Title 1 of Part 4 of the Penal
Code access to Internet-based electronic death data to obtain all of
the following information, sorted by any one of the factors:
102778. Access to the Internet-based electronic death
data shall be exclusively for the purpose of obtaining the following
information:
(a) Place of death.
(b) Name, last name followed by first name.
(c) Date of death.
(d) Cause of death.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section 11174.8 of
the Penal Code is amended to read:
11174.8. (a) Each organization represented on an elder death
review team may share with other members of the team information in
its possession concerning the decedent who is the subject of the
review or any person who was in contact with the decedent and any
other information deemed by the organization to be pertinent to the
review. Any information shared by an organization with other members
of a team is confidential. The intent of this subdivision is to
permit the disclosure to members of the team of any information
deemed confidential, privileged, or prohibited from disclosure by any
other provision of law.
(b) (1) Written and oral information may be disclosed to an elder
death review team established pursuant to this section. The team may
make a request in writing for the information sought and any person
with information of the kind described in paragraph (3) may rely on
the request in determining whether information may be disclosed to
the team.
(2) No individual or agency that has information governed by this
subdivision shall be required to disclose information. The intent of
this subdivision is to allow the voluntary disclosure of information
by the individual or agency that has the information.
(3) The following information may be disclosed pursuant to this
subdivision:
(A) Notwithstanding Section 56.10 of the Civil Code, medical
information.
(B) Notwithstanding Section 5328 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, mental health information.
(C) Notwithstanding Section 15633.5 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, information from elder abuse reports and
investigations, except the identity of persons who have made reports,
which shall not be disclosed.
(D) State summary criminal history information, criminal offender
record information, and local summary criminal history information,
as defined in Sections 11075, 11105, and 13300.
(E) Notwithstanding Section 11163.2, information pertaining to
reports by health practitioners of persons suffering from physical
injuries inflicted by means of a firearm or of persons suffering
physical injury where the injury is a result of assaultive or abusive
conduct.
(F) Information provided to probation officers in the course of
the performance of their duties, including, but not limited to, the
duty to prepare reports pursuant to Section 1203.10, as well as the
information on which these reports are based.
(G) Notwithstanding Section 10825 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, records relating to in-home supportive services, unless
disclosure is prohibited by federal law.
(H) Electronic copies of data from
certificates of death from the local registrar of births and deaths,
subject to any fee requirements.
(c) Written and oral information may be disclosed under this
section notwithstanding Sections 2263, 2918, 4982, and 6068 of the
Business and Professions Code, the lawyer-client privilege protected
by Article 3 (commencing with Section 950) of Chapter 4 of Division 8
of the Evidence Code, the physician-patient privilege protected by
Article 6 (commencing with Section 990) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of
the Evidence Code, and the psychotherapist-patient privilege
protected by Article 7 (commencing with Section 1010) of Chapter 4 of
Division 8 of the Evidence Code.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.