California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1898

Introduced by Assembly Member Brown

February 19, 2014

An act to amend Section 121025 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1898, as introduced, Brown. Public health records: reporting: HIV/AIDS.

Existing law, with specified exceptions, prohibits the disclosure of public health records containing personally identifiable information relating to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) that were developed or acquired by a state or local public health agency. Existing law authorizes specified disclosures of that information for the purpose of enhancing the completeness of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted disease coinfection reporting to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including authorizing local public agency tuberculosis control staff to disclose the information to certain state public health agency staff who may further disclose the information to the CDC, as specified.

This bill would include other communicable and chronic diseases of public health importance, as specified, for HIV/AIDS coinfection reporting to the CDC. The bill would additionally authorize local public health agency communicable disease staff to further disclose the information to state public health agency staff, who may further disclose the information, without disclosing patient identifying information, to the CDC, to the extent it is requested by the CDC.

Existing law authorizes local public health agency sexually transmitted disease control and tuberculosis control staff to disclose the HIV/AIDS-related information to state or local public health agency sexually transmitted disease control and tuberculosis control staff, the HIV-positive person, or his or her health care provider, for the purpose of facilitating appropriate medical care and treatment of persons coinfected with HIV, tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhea, or chlamydia.

This bill would instead authorize any local public health agency staff to disclose that information to any appropriate state or local public health agency staff for the purpose of facilitating appropriate medical care and treatment of persons coinfected with HIV and those diseases, or other communicable or chronic diseases of public health importance, as specified.

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 121025 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

121025.  

(a) Public health records relating to human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome (AIDS), containing personally identifying information,
that were developed or acquired by a state or local public health
agency, or an agent of that agency, shall be confidential and shall
not be disclosed, except as otherwise provided by law for public
health purposes or pursuant to a written authorization by the person
who is the subject of the record or by his or her guardian or
conservator.

(b) In accordance with subdivision (g) of Section 121022, a
state or local public health agency, or an agent of that agency, may
disclose personally identifying information in public health records,
as described in subdivision (a), to other local, state, or federal
public health agencies or to corroborating medical researchers,
when the confidential information is necessary to carry out the
duties of the agency or researcher in the investigation, control, or
surveillance of disease, as determined by the state or local public
health agency.

(c) Except as provided in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, any
disclosure authorized by subdivision (a) or (b) shall include only
the information necessary for the purpose of that disclosure and
shall be made only upon agreement that the information will be
kept confidential and will not be further disclosed without written
authorization, as described in subdivision (a).

(1) Notwithstanding any other begin delete provision of end delete law, the following
disclosures shall be authorized for the purpose of enhancing begin insert the end insert
completeness of begin insert reporting to the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) of end insert HIV/AIDS begin delete , end delete begin insert and coi end insert begin insert nfection with end insert
tuberculosis, begin delete and sexually transmitted disease coinfection reporting
to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) end delete
begin insert syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, or other communicable and
chronic diseases of public health importance, as determined by
the state or local public health agency, including, but not limited
to, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, salmonellosis, meningococcal infection end insert begin insert ,
and listeriosis end insert :

(A) The local public health agency HIV surveillance staff may
further disclose the information to the health care provider who
provides HIV care to the HIV-positive person who is the subject
of the record for the purpose of assisting in compliance with
subdivision (a) of Section 121022.

(B) Local public health agency tuberculosis control staff may
further disclose the information to state public health agency
tuberculosis control staff, who may further disclose the information,
without disclosing patient identifying information, to the CDC, to
the extent the information is requested by the CDC and permitted
by subdivision (b), for purposes of the investigation, control, or
surveillance of HIV and tuberculosis coinfections.

(C) Local public health agency sexually transmitted disease
control staff may further disclose the information to state public
health agency sexually transmitted disease control staff, who may
further disclose the information, without disclosing patient
identifying information, to the CDC, to the extent it is requested
by the CDC begin delete , end delete and permitted by subdivision (b), for the purposes of
the investigation, control, or surveillance of HIV and syphilis,
gonorrhea, or chlamydia coinfection.

begin insert

(D) Local public health agency communicable disease staff may
further disclose the information to state public health agency staff,
who may further disclose the information, without disclosing
patient identifying information, to the CDC, to the extent it is
requested by the CDC and permitted by subdivision (b), for the
purposes of the investigation, control, or surveillance of coinfection
with HIV and other communicable and chronic diseases of public
health importance, as determined by the state or local public health
agency, including, but not limited to, hepatitis B, hepatitis C,
salmonellosis, meningococcal infection, and listeriosis.

end insert

(2) Notwithstanding any other begin delete provision of end delete law, the following
disclosures shall be authorized for the purpose of facilitating
appropriate HIV/AIDS medical care and treatment:

(A) State public health agency HIV surveillance staff, AIDS
Drug Assistance Program staff, and care services staff may further
disclose the information to local public health agency staff, who
may further disclose the information to the HIV-positive person
who is the subject of the record, or the health care provider who
provides his or her HIV care, for the purpose of proactively offering
and coordinating care and treatment services to him or her.

(B) AIDS Drug Assistance Program staff and care services staff
in the State Department of Public Health may further disclose the
information directly to the HIV-positive person who is the subject
of the record or the health care provider who provides his or her
HIV care, for the purpose of proactively offering and coordinating
care and treatment services to him or her.

(C) Local public health agency staff may further disclose
acquired or developed information to the HIV-positive person who
is the subject of the record or the health care provider who provides
his or her HIV care for the purpose of proactively offering and
coordinating care and treatment services to him or her.

(3) Notwithstanding any other begin delete provision of end delete law, for the purpose
of facilitating appropriate medical care and treatment of persons
coinfected with HIV begin delete , end delete begin insert and end insert tuberculosis, begin delete and end delete syphilis, gonorrhea,
begin delete or end delete chlamydia, begin insert or other communicable and chronic disease of public
health importance, as determined by the state or local public health
agency, end insert local public health agency begin delete sexually transmitted disease
control and tuberculosis control end delete staff may further disclose the
information to begin insert appropriate end insert state or local public health agency
begin delete sexually transmitted disease control and tuberculosis control end delete staff,
the HIV-positive person who is the subject of the record, or the
health care provider who provides begin delete his or her HIV, tuberculosis,
and sexually transmitted disease end delete care begin insert for the patient coinfected
with HIV and tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, or
other communicable and chronic disease end insert .

(4) For the purposes of paragraphs (2) and (3), “staff” shall not
include nongovernmental entities, but shall include state and local
contracted employees who work within state and local public health
departments.

(d)  begin delete No end delete begin insert A end insert confidential public health record, as defined in
subdivision (c) of Section 121035, shall begin insert not end insert be disclosed,
discoverable, or compelled to be produced in any civil, criminal,
administrative, or other proceeding.

(e) (1) A person who negligently discloses the content of a
confidential public health record, as defined in subdivision (c) of
Section 121035, to begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert third party, except pursuant to a written
authorization, as described in subdivision (a), or as otherwise
authorized by law, shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount
not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), plus court costs, as
determined by the begin delete court, which end delete begin insert court. The end insert penalty and costs shall
be paid to the person whose record was disclosed.

(2)  begin delete Any end delete begin insert A end insert person who willfully or maliciously discloses the
content of any confidential public health record, as defined in
subdivision (c) of Section 121035, to begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert third party, except
pursuant to a written authorization, or as otherwise authorized by
law, shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not less than
five thousand dollars ($5,000) and not more than twenty-five
thousand dollars ($25,000), plus court costs, as determined by the
begin delete court, which end delete begin insert court. The end insert penalty and costs shall be paid to the person
whose confidential public health record was disclosed.

(3)  begin delete Any end delete begin insert A end insert person who willfully, maliciously, or negligently
discloses the content of begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert confidential public health record, as
defined in subdivision (c) of Section 121035, to begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert third party,
except pursuant to a written authorization, or as otherwise
authorized by law, that results in economic, bodily, or
psychological harm to the person whose confidential public health
record was disclosed, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed one year,
or a fine of not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000),
or both, plus court costs, as determined by the begin delete court, which end delete begin insert court.
The end insert penalty and costs shall be paid to the person whose confidential
public health record was disclosed.

(4)  begin delete Any end delete begin insert A end insert person who commits begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert act described in
paragraph (1), (2), or (3), shall be liable to the person whose
confidential public health record was disclosed for all actual
damages for economic, bodily, or psychological harm that is a
proximate result of the act.

(5) Each violation of this section is a separate and actionable
offense.

(6)  begin delete Nothing in this section limits or expands end delete begin insert This section does
not limit or expand end insert the right of an injured person whose
confidential public health record was disclosed to recover damages
under any other applicable law.

(f) In the event that a confidential public health record, as
defined in subdivision (c) of Section 121035, is disclosed, the
information shall not be used to determine employability, or
insurability of begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert person.