S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  1596

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 7, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  GOTTFRIED, DINOWITZ, GALEF, GUNTHER, PAULIN,
  CLARK, JAFFEE -- Multi-Sponsored by --  M.  of  A.  ALFANO,  BACALLES,
  BARRA, BRADLEY, BRENNAN, CANESTRARI, COOK, JACOBS, LUPARDO, McDONOUGH,
  McENENY,  MILLER,  SCARBOROUGH,  SPANO, SWEENEY, WALKER, WEISENBERG --
  read once and referred to the Committee on Health

AN ACT to amend the public health law and the education law, in relation
  to quality assurance and peer review activities

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Subdivision 2 of section 2805-m of the public health law,
as amended by chapter 808 of the laws of 1987, is  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  2.  Notwithstanding  any other provisions of law, none of the records,
documentation or committee  actions  or  records  required  pursuant  to
sections  twenty-eight hundred five-j and twenty-eight hundred five-k of
this article, the reports  required  pursuant  to  section  twenty-eight
hundred  five-l  of this article nor any incident reporting requirements
imposed upon diagnostic and treatment centers pursuant to the provisions
of this chapter shall be subject to disclosure under article six of  the
public  officers law or article thirty-one of the civil practice law and
rules, except as hereinafter  provided  or  as  provided  by  any  other
provision  of  law.  No  person  in  attendance at a meeting of any such
committee shall be required to testify as to  what  transpired  thereat.
[The]  FURTHERMORE,  THE  prohibition relating to discovery of testimony
shall [not] apply to the statements made by any person in attendance  at
such  a  meeting  who  is a party to an action or proceeding the subject
matter of which was reviewed at such meeting.
  S 2. The closing paragraph of subdivision 3 of  section  6527  of  the
education law, as amended by chapter 257 of the laws of 1987, is amended
to read as follows:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD01105-01-9

A. 1596                             2

  Neither  the  proceedings nor the records relating to performance of a
medical or a quality assurance review function  or  participation  in  a
medical  and  dental  malpractice  prevention  program  nor  any  report
required by the department of health pursuant  to  section  twenty-eight
hundred  five-l of the public health law described herein, including the
investigation of an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29  of  the
mental  hygiene  law, shall be subject to disclosure under article thir-
ty-one of the  civil  practice  law  and  rules  except  as  hereinafter
provided  or  as  provided  by  any other provision of law. No person in
attendance at a meeting when a medical or a quality assurance review  or
a  medical  and  dental  malpractice  prevention  program or an incident
reporting function described herein was performed, including the  inves-
tigation of an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the mental
hygiene law, shall be required to testify as to what transpired thereat.
[The]  FURTHERMORE,  THE  prohibition relating to discovery of testimony
shall [not] apply to the statements made by any person in attendance  at
such  a  meeting  who  is a party to an action or proceeding the subject
matter of which was reviewed at such meeting.
  S 3. Section 6530 of the education law is  amended  by  adding  a  new
subdivision 50 to read as follows:
  50.  FAILURE  TO  COOPERATE  AND  PARTICIPATE,  REASONABLY AND IN GOOD
FAITH, IN THE QUALITY ASSURANCE, INCIDENT  REPORTING,  AND  PEER  REVIEW
PROGRAMS,  ACTIVITIES, REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES COVERED BY THE CONFI-
DENTIALITY PROVISIONS OF SECTION  TWENTY-EIGHT  HUNDRED  FIVE-M  OF  THE
PUBLIC HEALTH LAW OR CLAUSE (A), (B), (D) OR (E) OF SUBDIVISION THREE OF
SECTION SIXTY-FIVE HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN OF THIS TITLE.
  S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.