Senate Bill S8974

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to requiring reporting of certain medical conditions to the department of health and the department of motor vehicles

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 08, 2018	referred to rules

2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Add Art 20-B §§2020 - 2025, Pub Health L; amd §510, V & T L

2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to requiring reporting of certain medical conditions to the department of health and the department of motor vehicles; requires physicians to report the identity of a patient to the department of health and the department of motor vehicles when the physician believes such patient has an impairing ailment.

2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8974

SPONSOR: YOUNG
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law and the vehicle and traffic law,
in relation to requiring reporting of certain medical conditions to the
department of health and the department of motor vehicles

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To help ensure that drivers who suffer from a driver impairing ailment
that may pose a dangerous condition be reported to the department of
motor vehicles for appropriate review of the individual's ability to
drive.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of this bill adds a new article 20-B to the Public Health
Law requiring physicians to report the identities of their patients with
"impairing ailments", conditions that result in loss of consciousness or

seizures, that persist and recur despite medical treatment, to the
Department of Health and the Department of Motor Vehicles, including
provisions protecting the confidentiality of such reports and providing
immunity from civil and criminal liability to physicians making such
reports in good faith.

Section two of this bill adds a new paragraph b-1 to subdivision 3 of
section 510 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law which adds "impairing
ailments" that may affect a person's ability to safely operate a motor
vehicle to the list of circumstances under which the Department of Motor
Vehicles may suspend or revoke a driver's license.

Section three of this bill provides that the bill is effective 90 days
after its enactment.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Reports of injuries and deaths from accidents caused by drivers with
uncontrolled medical conditions such as epilepsy or multiple sclerosis
that result in sudden loss of consciousness or motor coordination are
increasing, including, recently, a fatal crash in Park Slope Brooklyn
that claimed the lives of two children.  Physicians may have advised
their patients against driving but there is currently no law in place
that requires physicians to report patients with such conditions to the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for evaluation of their fitness to
drive, although such reporting is encouraged.

Driving is both a mentally and physically demanding task. It requires
drivers to have full control of their faculties in order to react in
situations that require instant attention and action. It is in the
public interest that drivers who have conditions that may cause them to
suddenly lose consciousness or motor control be evaluated by the DMV.
The proposed legislation will not automatically suspend or revoke the
license of any person diagnosed with a medical condition; rather, it
will require a medical provider to alert the DMV to the need to conduct
its existing medical review of individuals with recurrent relevant prob-
lems, after which the decision will be made by the DMV whether the indi-
vidual's license should be suspended or revoked.
This legislation requires the DMV to be notified about drivers whose
medical conditions may pose a threat to themselves and the public as
soon as a physician is aware of such condition, and requires prompt
action by the DMV upon receipt of such report to determine whether the
driver should continue to hold a license. It is modeled on established
laws of other states, including a New Jersey statute that has been in
effect since 1970. The definition of the types of impairments that
should require a medical review was drafted with the input of medical
professionals. The bill is narrowly tailored to those drivers with the
highest risk of losing consciousness or vehicle control, drivers whose
conditions have not responded to medical treatment, guarantees the
confidentiality of physician reports and provides immunity from civil
and criminal liability to physicians who make such reports in good
faith. This is sensible, narrowly tailored legislation that will make
the roadways of New York safer.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
The bill shall take effect 90 days after enactment.

2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8974
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               June 8, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  YOUNG  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law and the vehicle and  traffic  law,
   in  relation  to  requiring reporting of certain medical conditions to
   the department of health and the department of motor vehicles
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  The  public health law is amended by adding a new article
 20-B to read as follows:
 
                               ARTICLE 20-B
                      REPORTING OF IMPAIRING AILMENTS
 
 SECTION 2020. DEFINITION.
         2021. PHYSICIANS; DUTY TO REPORT.
         2022. CONTENTS OF REPORT.
         2023. DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER.
         2024. PHYSICIAN IMMUNITY.
         2025. CONFIDENTIALITY OF  REPORTS  SUBMITTED  PURSUANT  TO  THIS
                 ARTICLE.
   §  2020.  DEFINITION.  AS  USED  IN  THIS ARTICLE, THE TERM "IMPAIRING
 AILMENT" MEANS ANY  MEDICAL  CONDITION  THAT  CAN  RESULT  IN  RECURRENT
 CONVULSIVE SEIZURES; RECURRENT PERIODS OF UNCONSCIOUSNESS; IMPAIRMENT OR
 LOSS  OF  MOTOR  COORDINATION DUE TO CONDITIONS SUCH AS, BUT NOT LIMITED
 TO, EPILEPSY IN ANY OF ITS FORMS, WHEN SUCH CONDITIONS PERSIST OR  RECUR
 DESPITE MEDICAL TREATMENT.
   § 2021. PHYSICIANS; DUTY TO REPORT. A PHYSICIAN DIAGNOSING OR TREATING
 A  PATIENT  FOR  AN  IMPAIRING AILMENT SHALL REPORT THE IDENTITY OF SUCH
 PATIENT TO THE DEPARTMENT AND TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR  VEHICLES  WHEN
 SUCH  PHYSICIAN HAS REASON TO BELIEVE, EITHER THROUGH DIAGNOSIS OR AFTER
 A MEDICAL EVALUATION NOT YET RESULTING IN A DIAGNOSIS, THAT SUCH PATIENT
 HAS AN IMPAIRING AILMENT.
   § 2022. CONTENTS OF REPORT. THE REPORT AS SET  FORTH  IN  SECTION  TWO
 THOUSAND  TWENTY-ONE  OF  THIS  ARTICLE SHALL BE DESIGNATED AN IMPAIRING
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD16251-01-8

 S. 8974                             2
 
 AILMENT REPORT AND SHALL  CONTAIN  INFORMATION  WHICH  THE  COMMISSIONER
 ESTABLISHES AS NECESSARY TO IDENTIFY THE PATIENT SUFFERING THE IMPAIRING
 AILMENT  AND  TO  INVESTIGATE  THE NATURE AND PROGNOSIS OF THE IMPAIRING
 AILMENT AS IT RELATES TO THE PATIENT'S ABILITY TO SAFELY OPERATE A MOTOR
 VEHICLE.
   §  2023.  DUTIES  OF  COMMISSIONER.  THE COMMISSIONER SHALL PROMULGATE
 RULES AND REGULATIONS TO  IMPLEMENT  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  THIS  ARTICLE,
 INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
   1.  ESTABLISHING  THE FORM, CONTENT AND MANNER OF FILING THE IMPAIRING
 AILMENT REPORT;
   2. PRESCRIBING THE PERMISSIBLE USES FOR THE INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE
 PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE;
   3. ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES TO MAINTAIN THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMA-
 TION PROVIDED TO PERSONS PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE; AND
   4. ESTABLISHING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COMMISSIONER OF MOTOR VEHICLES
 A METHOD FOR A PHYSICIAN TO REPORT TO THE DEPARTMENT AND TO THE  DEPART-
 MENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES THE EXISTENCE OF AN IMPAIRING AILMENT.
   §  2024.  PHYSICIAN  IMMUNITY.  A  PHYSICIAN,  REPORTING IN GOOD FAITH
 PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE, SHALL BE IMMUNE FROM LIABILITY, CIVIL OR CRIM-
 INAL, RESULTING FROM ACTIONS TAKEN PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE. NOTHING  IN
 THIS  ARTICLE SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO CREATE A CAUSE OF ACTION FOR DAMAGES
 AGAINST A PHYSICIAN BASED ON THE ACCURACY OF OR THE FAILURE  TO  MAKE  A
 REPORT REQUIRED BY THIS ARTICLE.
   §  2025. CONFIDENTIALLY OF REPORTS SUBMITTED PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE.
 REPORTS SUBMITTED PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE FOR THE  INFORMATION
 OF  THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, SHALL
 BE KEPT IN THE CONFIDENCE OF SUCH AGENCIES, AND SHALL NOT BE REVEALED OR
 USED BY SUCH AGENCIES IN ANY MANNER OR UNDER  ANY  CIRCUMSTANCES  EXCEPT
 FOR  THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING THE ELIGIBILITY OF A PERSON TO OPERATE A
 MOTOR VEHICLE ON THE HIGHWAYS OF THIS STATE.
   § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 510 of the vehicle and  traffic  law  is
 amended by adding a new paragraph b-1 to read as follows:
   B-1.  BECAUSE  OF AN IMPAIRING AILMENT AS DEFINED IN SECTION TWO THOU-
 SAND TWENTY OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW THAT MAY AFFECT A PERSON'S  ABILITY
 TO  SAFELY OPERATE A MOTOR VEHICLE, PROVIDED THAT THE COMMISSIONER SHALL
 DETERMINE WHETHER TO SO SUSPEND OR  REVOKE  PROMPTLY  UPON  RECEIVING  A
 REPORT OF AN IMPAIRING AILMENT;
   §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law.

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Senate Bill S8974

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

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2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

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Sponsored By

Catharine Young

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Actions

2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S8974 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments