NY State Senate Bill 2025-S4713

Senate Bill S4713

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Allows direct descendants of a patient who has been deceased for a period of fifty years or longer to access such patient's clinical records

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Mental Health 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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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 12, 2025	referred to mental health

2025-S4713 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Mental Health
Law Section:: Mental Hygiene Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §33.16, Ment Hyg L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S8967

2025-S4713 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Allows direct descendants of a patient who has been deceased for a period of fifty years or longer to access such patient's clinical records.

2025-S4713 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4713

SPONSOR: FAHY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to allowing direct
descendants of a patient who has been deceased for a period of fifty
years or longer to access such patient's clinical records

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill would allow direct descendants of individuals who have been
deceased for 50 years or longer to access their ancestors' old clinical
records.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

  Section  1 adds direct descendants of deceased patients to the list of
qualified persons permitted  to  access  patient  clinical  records  and
directs OMH to establish a process for proving direct descent.

  Section  2 clarifies that section 33.16 of the mental hygiene law does

not require that facilities  retain  records  indefinitely  or  for  any
particular length of time.

  Section 3 establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In  2014, New York State enacted a law barring anyone from accessing old
clinical records of deceased individuals unless  the  person  requesting
access  is a parent, a child, a sibling, or a spouse of the deceased. If
no such immediate family members are alive, this effectively  makes  the
clinical  records of deceased individuals permanently inaccessible, even
if the person requesting the information is a direct descendant  of  the
deceased.

Modern  research  shows that people can have a genetic predisposition to
mental illness which, if left untreated, can lead to severe consequences
such as suicide. One way people can be made aware of whether they  might
have such a predisposition is by accessing the clinical records of their
ancestors  so  that  they  can  identify if there is a pattern of mental
illness or suicidal behavior in their family. By having access to ances-
tors' old clinical records, descendants can gain insight into their  own
genetic  risk factors for psychiatric illness. From there, they can then
choose to seek preliminary treatment to prevent the potential  onset  of
mental  health  disorders.  Thus,  direct descendants of individuals who
have been deceased for fifty years or more should have  access  to  this
potentially life-saving information.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Effective immediately.

2025-S4713 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4713
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 12, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  FAHY  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health
 
 AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to  allowing  direct
   descendants  of  a patient who has been deceased for a period of fifty
   years or longer to access such patient's clinical records

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph  6  of  subdivision (a) of section 33.16 of the
 mental hygiene law, as amended by chapter 233 of the laws  of  2017,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   6.  (I)  "Qualified  person"  means any properly identified patient or
 client, guardian of a person with a developmental  disability  appointed
 pursuant  to article seventeen-A of the surrogate's court procedure act,
 or committee for an incompetent appointed pursuant to this chapter or  a
 parent  of  an  infant, or a guardian of an infant appointed pursuant to
 article seventeen of the surrogate's court procedure act or other legal-
 ly appointed guardian of an infant who may be entitled to request access
 to a clinical record pursuant to paragraph three of subdivision  (b)  of
 this  section,  or a parent, spouse, adult child, or adult sibling of an
 adult patient or client who may be entitled to request access to a clin-
 ical record pursuant to  paragraph  four  of  subdivision  (b)  of  this
 section,  OR  A  DIRECT DESCENDANT OF A FORMER PATIENT OR CLIENT WHO HAS
 BEEN DECEASED FOR A PERIOD OF FIFTY YEARS OR LONGER.
   (II) THE COMMISSIONER OF MENTAL  HEALTH  SHALL  PROMULGATE  RULES  AND
 REGULATIONS TO ESTABLISH A PROCESS AND STANDARD OF EVIDENCE ACCORDING TO
 WHICH INDIVIDUALS MAY PRESENT TO A FACILITY PROOF OF DIRECT DESCENT FROM
 A FORMER PATIENT OR CLIENT.
   §  2.    Paragraph 5 of subdivision (b) of section 33.16 of the mental
 hygiene law, as amended by chapter 233 of the laws of 1991,  is  amended
 to read as follows:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06027-02-5
 S. 4713                             2

 
   5.  Subject  to the provisions of this subdivision and subdivision (c)
 of this section, upon the written request of  any  qualified  person,  a
 facility  shall furnish to such person, within a reasonable time, a copy
 of any clinical record requested  which  the  person  is  authorized  to
 inspect pursuant to this subdivision; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT NOTHING IN
 THIS  SECTION  SHALL  BE  CONSTRUED  AS REQUIRING THAT A FACILITY RETAIN
 CLINICAL RECORDS INDEFINITELY OR FOR ANY PARTICULAR LENGTH  OF  TIME  IN
 ANTICIPATION OF ATTEMPTED ACCESS BY AN INDIVIDUAL MEETING THE DEFINITION
 OF A QUALIFIED PERSON.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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