Bill Text: NY A00420 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to requiring a medical facility or related service to obtain express prior written consent before filming and/or broadcasting of visual images of a patient's medical treatment.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 19-5)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - ordered to third reading cal.19 [A00420 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A00420-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         420--A
                                                                Cal. No. 215

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. BRAUNSTEIN, MOSLEY, JAFFEE, M. G. MILLER, ARROYO,
          GOTTFRIED,  ZEBROWSKI,  COOK,  MONTESANO,  FINCH,  SEAWRIGHT,  FRIEND,
          GALEF, HEVESI, WEPRIN, ABINANTI, L. ROSENTHAL, GRIFFIN --  Multi-Spon-
          sored  by  --  M.  of  A. McDONOUGH, NOLAN, PALMESANO, PEOPLES-STOKES,
          SCHIMMINGER, SIMON -- read once  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on
          Health  -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes -- reported
          from committee, advanced to  a  third  reading,  amended  and  ordered
          reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third reading

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public  health law and the civil rights law, in
          relation to prohibiting  the  making  and/or  broadcasting  of  visual
          images of individuals undergoing medical treatment without prior writ-
          ten consent

          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  section
     2  2806-c to read as follows:
     3    §  2806-c.  Restrictions on broadcasting of patients. 1. Every patient
     4  in a health care facility shall have the right to have privacy in treat-
     5  ment and in caring for personal needs, including the broadcasting of the
     6  recognizable image or speech of such patient involved in a  health  care
     7  procedure  within  the  confines of such facility, with the exception of
     8  broadcasting such image or speech for  the  purposes  of  advancing  the
     9  health  care  treatment  of the individual, a quality assurance program,
    10  the education or training of health care personnel, or necessary securi-
    11  ty purposes.
    12    2. Such privacy in treatment shall include the obtaining by the health
    13  care facility of express written consent on  a  separate  document  used
    14  solely  for  such purpose from an individual receiving treatment in such
    15  facility prior to broadcasting the recognizable image or speech of  such
    16  patient  involved  in  such  treatment.  In the case of broadcasting the

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02693-06-9
        A. 420--A                           2

     1  recognizable image or speech for education or training  of  health  care
     2  personnel,  the  patient  shall have the right to know of and shall have
     3  the right to refuse the broadcasting for that purpose. A person  legally
     4  authorized  to  make  health care decisions for the patient or otherwise
     5  authorized to consent may grant such consent or exercise such refusal if
     6  the patient cannot reasonably do so due to such patient's incapacity.
     7    3. For the purposes of this section:
     8    (a) "health care facility" shall mean a residential health care facil-
     9  ity, general hospital, free-standing ambulatory care facility,  diagnos-
    10  tic and/or treatment center and clinic authorized under this article, or
    11  within  the confines of an ambulance operated by an ambulance service as
    12  defined by subdivision two of section three thousand one of this chapter
    13  or by a voluntary ambulance service as defined by subdivision  three  of
    14  section three thousand one of this chapter;
    15    (b) "quality assurance" shall mean any evaluation of services provided
    16  in  or  by a health care facility for purposes of improvement in safety,
    17  quality or outcomes;
    18    (c) "education or training of health  care  personnel"  shall  mean  a
    19  program  of  education  or training of health care personnel or students
    20  being educated or trained to be health care personnel, that  the  health
    21  care facility has authorized;
    22    (d)  "broadcasting"  of  an image or speech shall mean transmission by
    23  broadcast, cable, closed circuit, internet or other television or visual
    24  medium, social media, or other system by  which  it  can  be  viewed  in
    25  violation of the privacy rights and expectations of a patient.  Provided
    26  however,  that broadcasting shall not include incidental transmission of
    27  the image or speech of  an  individual  being  treated,  transported  or
    28  otherwise cared for or attended to by an ambulance service as defined in
    29  subdivision  two  of  section three thousand one of this chapter or by a
    30  voluntary ambulance service as defined in subdivision three  of  section
    31  three  thousand  one  of  this  chapter, at an ambulance response scene,
    32  public area or during delivery or admission to a health  care  facility,
    33  that is captured by news media, bystanders or others who do not have the
    34  written  consent  of  such  ambulance  service  or  voluntary  ambulance
    35  service.
    36    (e) Nothing in this section shall apply where such recognizable  image
    37  or speech is broadcast or conveyed as part of the news gathering process
    38  among  professional  journalists,  newscasters  or  other individuals or
    39  entities defined in subdivision (a) of  section  seventy-nine-h  of  the
    40  civil rights law, but not broadcast to the public.
    41    4. No health care facility, as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision
    42  three  of this section, shall incur any liability under this section for
    43  the broadcasting by a third party of the recognizable image or speech of
    44  a patient involved in a health care procedure in the facility when  such
    45  image or speech was obtained by the third party without the knowledge or
    46  consent of the facility or its staff.
    47    5.    Nothing  in  this  section shall diminish or impair any right or
    48  remedy otherwise applicable to any patient.
    49    § 2. Section 50-c of the civil rights law, as amended by  chapter  643
    50  of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
    51    §  50-c. Private right of action.  1. If the identity of the victim of
    52  an offense defined in subdivision one of section fifty-b of this article
    53  is disclosed in violation of such section, any person  injured  by  such
    54  disclosure  may bring an action to recover damages suffered by reason of
    55  such wrongful disclosure. In any action brought under this section,  the
    56  court may award reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
        A. 420--A                           3

     1    2.  If the privacy of an individual as defined in section twenty-eight
     2  hundred six-c of the public health  law  regarding  the  right  to  have
     3  privacy  in  treatment  and  in caring for personal needs, including the
     4  broadcasting of the recognizable image or speech of a  patient  involved
     5  in  a  health  care procedure in such a facility has been violated, such
     6  individual or his or her estate representative may bring  an  action  to
     7  recover  damages  suffered  by  reason  of such violation. In any action
     8  brought under this section, the court may  award  reasonable  attorney's
     9  fees to a prevailing plaintiff. The cause of action created herein shall
    10  survive  the death of such individual and shall only apply to violations
    11  occurring on and after the effective date of this subdivision.
    12    3. Nothing in this section shall diminish or impair any right or reme-
    13  dy otherwise applicable to any patient.
    14    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.