NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6835
SPONSOR: McDonald TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation
to removing the prohibition relating to certain discovery of testimony
PURPOSE:
To encourage full and robust discussion and the process of self-review
in order to improve quality of care by granting medical providers, named
as defendants in subsequent medical malpractice actions, the privilege
afforded all other participants in the statutory quality assurance
proceedings conducted to investigate incidents.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends education law section 6527 (3) to stipulate that the
prohibition regarding discovery of testimony at quality assurance
proceedings shall also apply to a person, who is a party to an action,
whose subject matter was reviewed at such quality assurance proceeding.
Similarly; public health law section 2805-m stipulates that for a hospi-
tal malpractice prevention program, the prohibition against discovery of
testimony at these program meetings shall also apply to a person who is
a party to an action, whose subject matter was reviewed at such meet-
ings.
Section two establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
While the current law protecting the confidentiality of peer review
information is protective of most parties to meetings conducted for
purposes of malpractice prevention and quality assurance, these
programs' effectiveness is diminished because of the exception to confi-
dentiality for testimony by parties who are in an action whose subject
matter also relates to the quality assurance meeting topic. The public
policy behind these programs was expressed best by the New York Court of
Appeals in Logue v. Velez, 92 NY 2d 13 (1998), wherein the court stated
that "...The purpose of the discovery exclusion is to 'enhance the
objectivity of the review process,' and to assure that medical review
committees 'may and objectively analyze the quality of health services
rendered' by hospitals...."
This legislation seeks to fully accomplish the laudable policy of
encouraging self-review and enhanced quality of health care by extending
the quality assurance privilege for medical providers who are named as
defendants in subsequent medical malpractice actions.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-2022: 5.9216
2023-2024: A.5316/S.1015
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall become a law and shall apply to all actions and proceedings
commenced on or after such date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6835
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD, SEAWRIGHT, BENDETT -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation
to removing the prohibition relating to certain discovery of testi-
mony
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 6527 of the education law, as
2 amended by chapter 257 of the laws of 1987, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 3. No individual who serves as a member of (a) a committee established
5 to administer a utilization review plan of a hospital, including a
6 hospital as defined in article twenty-eight of the public health law or
7 a hospital as defined in subdivision ten of section 1.03 of the mental
8 hygiene law, or (b) a committee having the responsibility of the inves-
9 tigation of an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the mental
10 hygiene law or the evaluation and improvement of the quality of care
11 rendered in a hospital as defined in article twenty-eight of the public
12 health law or a hospital as defined in subdivision ten of section 1.03
13 of the mental hygiene law, or (c) any medical review committee or
14 subcommittee thereof of a local, county or state medical, dental, podia-
15 try or optometrical society, any such society itself, a professional
16 standards review organization or an individual when such committee,
17 subcommittee, society, organization or individual is performing any
18 medical or quality assurance review function including the investigation
19 of an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the mental hygiene
20 law, either described in clauses (a) and (b) of this subdivision,
21 required by law, or involving any controversy or dispute between (i) a
22 physician, dentist, podiatrist or optometrist or hospital administrator
23 and a patient concerning the diagnosis, treatment or care of such
24 patient or the fees or charges therefor or (ii) a physician, dentist,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00936-01-5
A. 6835 2
1 podiatrist or optometrist or hospital administrator and a provider of
2 medical, dental, podiatric or optometrical services concerning any
3 medical or health charges or fees of such physician, dentist, podiatrist
4 or optometrist, or (d) a committee appointed pursuant to section twen-
5 ty-eight hundred five-j of the public health law to participate in the
6 medical and dental malpractice prevention program, or (e) any individual
7 who participated in the preparation of incident reports required by the
8 department of health pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred five-l of
9 the public health law, or (f) a committee established to administer a
10 utilization review plan, or a committee having the responsibility of
11 evaluation and improvement of the quality of care rendered, in a health
12 maintenance organization organized under article forty-four of the
13 public health law or article forty-three of the insurance law, including
14 a committee of an individual practice association or medical group
15 acting pursuant to a contract with such a health maintenance organiza-
16 tion, shall be liable in damages to any person for any action taken or
17 recommendations made, [by him] within the scope of [his] their function
18 in such capacity provided that (a) such individual has taken action or
19 made recommendations within the scope of [his] their function and with-
20 out malice, and (b) in the reasonable belief after reasonable investi-
21 gation that the act or recommendation was warranted, based upon the
22 facts disclosed.
23 Neither the proceedings nor the records relating to performance of a
24 medical or a quality assurance review function or participation in a
25 medical and dental malpractice prevention program nor any report
26 required by the department of health pursuant to section twenty-eight
27 hundred five-l of the public health law described herein, including the
28 investigation of an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the
29 mental hygiene law, shall be subject to disclosure under article thir-
30 ty-one of the civil practice law and rules except as hereinafter
31 provided or as provided by any other provision of law. No person in
32 attendance at a meeting when a medical or a quality assurance review or
33 a medical and dental malpractice prevention program or an incident
34 reporting function described herein was performed, including the inves-
35 tigation of an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the mental
36 hygiene law, shall be required to testify as to what transpired thereat.
37 The prohibition relating to discovery of testimony shall [not] apply to
38 the statements made by any person in attendance at such a meeting who is
39 a party to an action or proceeding the subject matter of which was
40 reviewed at such meeting.
41 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 2805-m of the public health law, as
42 amended by chapter 808 of the laws of 1987, is amended to read as
43 follows:
44 2. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, none of the records,
45 documentation or committee actions or records required pursuant to
46 sections twenty-eight hundred five-j and twenty-eight hundred five-k of
47 this article, the reports required pursuant to section twenty-eight
48 hundred five-l of this article nor any incident reporting requirements
49 imposed upon diagnostic and treatment centers pursuant to the provisions
50 of this chapter shall be subject to disclosure under article six of the
51 public officers law or article thirty-one of the civil practice law and
52 rules, except as hereinafter provided or as provided by any other
53 provision of law. No person in attendance at a meeting of any such
54 committee shall be required to testify as to what transpired thereat.
55 The prohibition relating to discovery of testimony shall [not] apply to
56 the statements made by any person in attendance at such a meeting who is
A. 6835 3
1 a party to an action or proceeding the subject matter of which was
2 reviewed at such meeting.
3 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
4 it shall have become a law and shall apply to all actions and
5 proceedings commenced on or after such date.
