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

                                   590

                       2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 5, 2011
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  GOTTFRIED, DINOWITZ, GALEF, GUNTHER, PAULIN,
  CLARK, JAFFEE, COLTON, SCHIMEL -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BREN-
  NAN, CANESTRARI, COOK, JACOBS, McDONOUGH, McENENY, J. MILLER, SCARBOR-
  OUGH, SPANO, SWEENEY, 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.
              

                                                           LBD02350-01-1

A. 590                              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.