The New York State Senate

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    822
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 6, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, GOTTFRIED, DINOWITZ, L. ROSENTHAL, STECK,
   BRONSON,  FAHY,  CRUZ,  EPSTEIN, QUART, FERNANDEZ, HEVESI, JACOBSON --
   Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. PERRY, RICHARDSON, SIMON --  read  once
   and referred to the Committee on Health

 AN  ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to providing medical
   care to minors for sexually transmitted diseases without a parent's or
   guardian's consent
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Section 2305 of the public health law, as amended by chap-
 ter 878 of the laws of 1980, the section heading and subdivisions 1  and
 2  as amended by section 35 of part E of chapter 56 of the laws of 2013,
 is amended to read as follows:
   § 2305. Sexually transmitted diseases; CARE AND treatment [by licensed
 physician or staff physician of a hospital; prescriptions];  CONSENT  BY
 MINORS.  1. No person, other than a [licensed physician, or, in a hospi-
 tal, a staff physician] HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER, shall diagnose,  treat
 or  prescribe  for  a person who is infected with a sexually transmitted
 disease, or who has been exposed to infection with a sexually  transmit-
 ted  disease,  or  dispense  or  sell a drug, medicine or remedy for the
 treatment of such person except on  prescription  of  a  [duly  licensed
 physician] HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER.
   2.  (A)  A  [licensed physician, or in a hospital, a staff physician,]
 HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER may diagnose, treat or prescribe TREATMENT  FOR
 A  SEXUALLY  TRANSMITTED  DISEASE for a person under the age of [twenty-
 one] EIGHTEEN years without the consent or knowledge of the  parents  or
 [guardian]  GUARDIANS of said person, where such person is infected with
 a sexually transmitted disease, or has been exposed to infection with  a
 sexually transmitted disease.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD01966-01-1

 A. 822                              2
 
   (B)  A HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER MAY PROVIDE HEALTH CARE RELATED TO THE
 PREVENTION OF A SEXUALLY TRANSMISSIBLE DISEASE, INCLUDING  ADMINISTERING
 VACCINES,  TO  A  PERSON  UNDER  THE  AGE  OF EIGHTEEN YEARS WITHOUT THE
 CONSENT OR KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  PARENTS  OR  GUARDIANS  OF  SUCH  PERSON,
 PROVIDED  THAT  THE  PERSON HAS CAPACITY TO CONSENT TO THE CARE, WITHOUT
 REGARD TO THE PERSON'S AGE, AND THE PERSON CONSENTS.
   (C) ANY RELEASE OF PATIENT  INFORMATION  REGARDING  VACCINES  PROVIDED
 UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONSISTENT WITH SECTIONS SEVENTEEN AND EIGH-
 TEEN OF THIS CHAPTER AND OTHER APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS.
   3. For the purposes of this section, [the term]
   (A)  "hospital"  shall  mean  a hospital as defined in article twenty-
 eight of this chapter; AND
   (B) "HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER" SHALL MEAN A PERSON LICENSED, CERTIFIED
 OR OTHERWISE AUTHORIZED TO PRACTICE UNDER TITLE EIGHT OF  THE  EDUCATION
 LAW, ACTING WITHIN HIS OR HER LAWFUL SCOPE OF PRACTICE.
   §  2.  The  first  undesignated  paragraph of section 17 of the public
 health law, as amended by chapter 322 of the laws of 2017, is amended to
 read ad follows:
   Upon the written request of any competent patient, parent or  guardian
 of an infant, a guardian appointed pursuant to article eighty-one of the
 mental  hygiene  law,  or  conservator  of  a conservatee, an examining,
 consulting or treating physician or hospital must release  and  deliver,
 exclusive of personal notes of the said physician or hospital, copies of
 all  x-rays,  medical  records and test records including all laboratory
 tests regarding that patient to any other designated physician or hospi-
 tal provided, however, that such records concerning the CARE AND  treat-
 ment  of an infant patient for venereal disease or the performance of an
 abortion operation upon such infant patient shall not be released or  in
 any  manner  be made available to the parent or guardian of such infant,
 and provided, further, that  original  mammograms,  rather  than  copies
 thereof, shall be released and delivered. Either the physician or hospi-
 tal incurring the expense of providing copies of x-rays, medical records
 and  test  records  including  all  laboratory  tests  pursuant  to  the
 provisions of this section may impose a reasonable charge to be paid  by
 the  person  requesting  the  release and deliverance of such records as
 reimbursement for such expenses, provided, however, that  the  physician
 or  hospital  may  not impose a charge for copying an original mammogram
 when the original has  been  released  or  delivered  to  any  competent
 patient,  parent or guardian of an infant, a guardian appointed pursuant
 to article eighty-one of the mental hygiene law, or a conservator  of  a
 conservatee  and  provided,  further,  that any charge for delivering an
 original mammogram pursuant to this section shall not exceed  the  docu-
 mented  costs  associated  therewith. However, the reasonable charge for
 paper copies shall not exceed seventy-five cents per page. A release  of
 records under this section shall not be denied solely because of inabil-
 ity  to  pay. No charge may be imposed under this section for providing,
 releasing, or delivering medical records or copies  of  medical  records
 where  requested  for the purpose of supporting an application, claim or
 appeal for any government benefit or program,  provided  that,  where  a
 provider  maintains medical records in electronic form, it shall provide
 the copy in either electronic or paper form, as required by the  govern-
 ment benefit or program, or at the patient's request.
   § 3. Paragraph (i) of subdivision 3 of section 18 of the public health
 law,  as added by chapter 634 of the laws of 2004, is amended to read as
 follows:

 A. 822                              3
 
   (i) The release of patient information shall be subject to: (i)  arti-
 cle  twenty-seven-F  of this chapter in the case of confidential HIV-re-
 lated information; (ii) section seventeen of this article  and  sections
 [twenty-three  hundred  one,]  twenty-three hundred six and twenty-three
 hundred eight of this chapter in the case of termination of a pregnancy,
 and CARE AND treatment for a sexually transmitted disease; (iii) article
 thirty-three of the mental hygiene law; and (iv) any other provisions of
 law  creating  special  requirements  relating to the release of patient
 information, including the  federal  health  insurance  portability  and
 accountability act of 1996 and its implementing regulations.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.