Add Art 20-B §§2020 - 2025, Pub Health L; amd §510, V & T L
 
Relates to requiring reporting of certain medical conditions to the department of health and the department of motor vehicles; requires physicians to report the identity of a patient to the department of health and the department of motor vehicles when the physician believes such patient has an impairing ailment.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8974
IN SENATE
June 8, 2018
___________
Introduced by Sen. YOUNG -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the vehicle and traffic law,
in relation to requiring reporting of certain medical conditions to
the department of health and the department of motor vehicles
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new article
2 20-B to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 20-B
4 REPORTING OF IMPAIRING AILMENTS
5 Section 2020. Definition.
6 2021. Physicians; duty to report.
7 2022. Contents of report.
8 2023. Duties of commissioner.
9 2024. Physician immunity.
10 2025. Confidentiality of reports submitted pursuant to this
11 article.
12 § 2020. Definition. As used in this article, the term "impairing
13 ailment" means any medical condition that can result in recurrent
14 convulsive seizures; recurrent periods of unconsciousness; impairment or
15 loss of motor coordination due to conditions such as, but not limited
16 to, epilepsy in any of its forms, when such conditions persist or recur
17 despite medical treatment.
18 § 2021. Physicians; duty to report. A physician diagnosing or treating
19 a patient for an impairing ailment shall report the identity of such
20 patient to the department and to the department of motor vehicles when
21 such physician has reason to believe, either through diagnosis or after
22 a medical evaluation not yet resulting in a diagnosis, that such patient
23 has an impairing ailment.
24 § 2022. Contents of report. The report as set forth in section two
25 thousand twenty-one of this article shall be designated an impairing
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16251-01-8
S. 8974 2
1 ailment report and shall contain information which the commissioner
2 establishes as necessary to identify the patient suffering the impairing
3 ailment and to investigate the nature and prognosis of the impairing
4 ailment as it relates to the patient's ability to safely operate a motor
5 vehicle.
6 § 2023. Duties of commissioner. The commissioner shall promulgate
7 rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this article,
8 including, but not limited to:
9 1. establishing the form, content and manner of filing the impairing
10 ailment report;
11 2. prescribing the permissible uses for the information made available
12 pursuant to this article;
13 3. establishing procedures to maintain the confidentiality of informa-
14 tion provided to persons pursuant to this article; and
15 4. establishing in conjunction with the commissioner of motor vehicles
16 a method for a physician to report to the department and to the depart-
17 ment of motor vehicles the existence of an impairing ailment.
18 § 2024. Physician immunity. A physician, reporting in good faith
19 pursuant to this article, shall be immune from liability, civil or crim-
20 inal, resulting from actions taken pursuant to this article. Nothing in
21 this article shall be construed to create a cause of action for damages
22 against a physician based on the accuracy of or the failure to make a
23 report required by this article.
24 § 2025. Confidentially of reports submitted pursuant to this article.
25 Reports submitted pursuant to this article shall be for the information
26 of the department of health and the department of motor vehicles, shall
27 be kept in the confidence of such agencies, and shall not be revealed or
28 used by such agencies in any manner or under any circumstances except
29 for the purpose of determining the eligibility of a person to operate a
30 motor vehicle on the highways of this state.
31 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 510 of the vehicle and traffic law is
32 amended by adding a new paragraph b-1 to read as follows:
33 b-1. because of an impairing ailment as defined in section two thou-
34 sand twenty of the public health law that may affect a person's ability
35 to safely operate a motor vehicle, provided that the commissioner shall
36 determine whether to so suspend or revoke promptly upon receiving a
37 report of an impairing ailment;
38 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
39 have become a law.