Bill Text: NY S01693 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended


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: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-07-23 - referred to health [S01693 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S01693-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         1693--B
            Cal. No. 455

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 15, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. KRUEGER, ADDABBO, SERRANO -- read twice and ordered
          printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on  Health
          -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second
          report,  ordered  to  a  third reading, amended and ordered reprinted,
          retaining its place in the order of third reading -- again amended and
          ordered reprinted, retaining its place in 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 in this state shall have the right to have
     5  privacy in treatment and in caring for  personal  needs,  including  the
     6  broadcasting  of  the  recognizable  image  or  speech  of  such patient
     7  involved in a health care procedure within the confines of such  facili-
     8  ty,  with  the  exception  of  broadcasting such image or speech for the
     9  purposes of advancing the health care treatment  of  the  individual,  a
    10  quality  assurance  program,  the  education  or training of health care
    11  personnel, or necessary security 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
    17  recognizable image or speech for education or training  of  health  care
    18  personnel,  the  patient  shall have the right to know of and shall have
    19  the right to refuse the broadcasting for that purpose. A person  legally

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02693-10-9

        S. 1693--B                          2

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

        S. 1693--B                          3

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