BILL NUMBER:S7854

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
the identification, charging, reporting and investigation of charges
of professional misconduct by health care professionals

PURPOSE:  To ensure that the Office of Professional Medical Conduct
(OPMC) shall not identify, investigate, or charge a practitioner based
solely on their recommendation or provision of a treatment modality
that is currently not universally accepted by the medical community

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends Section 230 of the public health law by
adding a new subdivision 9-b to ensure that neither the board for
professional medical conduct nor the office of professional medical
conduct shall identify, charge, or cause a report made to the director
of such office to be investigated based solely upon the recommendation
or provision of a treatment modality by a licensee that is not
universally accepted by the medical profession, including but not
limited to, varying modalities used in the treatment of Lyme disease
and other tick-borne diseases.

Section two of the bill provides for an immediate effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:
              

In New York State, the Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC)
is charged with ensuring that appropriate medical care is given to all
New York residents, through the investigation and prosecution of
professional misconduct by physicians, physician assistants and
specialist assistants. Because the medical profession is one that
continually evolves with scientific breakthroughs, it is important
that the OPMC maintains a flexible, case-specific, investigations
policy - particularly where new treatments and acceptance by the
medical community do not align.

This has been relevant to concerns raised regarding the investigation
of alternative medical treatment of Lyme and tick-borne disease with
modalities not universally accepted by the medical community. As the
debate surrounding acceptable protocols continues, it is important
that the State takes a treatment-neutral approach where possible in
order to ensure that medical professionals remain the discerning voice
in defining appropriate medical care. To that end, recognizing that
the determination of appropriate diagnosis and treatment on a
case-by-case basis is a responsibility solely held by a medical
professional, it is also critical to ensure that bodies such as the
OPMC do not inadvertently endorse or preclude innovative treatments
with rules that may dissuade medical professionals from pursuing new
methods.

In a memo dated June 15, 2005, the Director of the Office of
Professional Medical Conduct "memorialized and endorse(d)" these very
principles. The memo, circulated to the staff members of the OPMC
advised that so long as a treatment modality effectively treats a
medical condition, within certain specifications, its recommendation
or provision cannot, by itself, constitute professional misconduct.


Thus, the determination of effective and appropriate treatment remains
in the hands of the proper entity, the medical professional.  As such,
this legislation codifies the existing policy of the OPMC to clarify
that the OPMC shall not identify, investigate, or charge a
practitioner based solely on their recommendation or provision of a
treatment modality that is currently not universally accepted by the
medical community.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

No fiscal implications.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect immediately.