AB 1683, as introduced, 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.
This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to inform a patient diagnosed with cancer or receiving cancer therapy treatment from a hospital or other facility providing therapy to that patient within an area designated as a cancer reporting area of the reporting requirement. This bill would require the department to notify the patient 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 103886 is added to the Health and Safety
2Code, to read:
(a) A patient diagnosed with cancer by a physician
4and surgeon, dentist, podiatrist, or other health care practitioner
5or a patient receiving cancer therapy treatment from any hospital
6or other facility providing therapy to that patient within an area
7designated as a cancer reporting area shall be informed by the
8department of the reporting requirement described in Section
9103885. The department shall notify the patient within six months
10of his or her case being reported to the department.
11(b) The department shall not disclose confidential information
12to any persons, other states’ cancer registries, federal cancer control
13agencies, local health officers, or health researchers pursuant to
14Section 103885, until the department informs the patient
of the
15reporting requirement described in Section 103885.
16(c) The patient may refuse to participate in any research study
17and may request that his or her contact information be withheld
18from those persons or health researchers who obtain the patient’s
19confidential information pursuant to Section 103885.
P3 1(d) All notifications to the patient required under this section
2shall be distributed in a cost-effective manner.
3(e) The department shall adopt regulations as it determines are
4necessary for the implementation of this section in accordance
5with the Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 3.5 (commencing
6with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
7Government Code.
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