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History
- Approval memo.27
- Signed chap.532
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading cal.646
- Substituted for A7558B
- Referred to health
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 59–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1571
- Referred to rules
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Prohibits the investigation of any claim of medical professional misconduct based solely on treatment that is not universally accepted by the medical profession
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Didi Barrett
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S7854
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to the identification, charging, reporting and investigation of charges of professional misconduct by health care professionals
Purpose
To ensure that the Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) shall not identify, investigate, or charge a practitioner based solely on their recommendation or provision of a treatment modality that is currently not universally accepted by the medical community
Summary of provisions
Section one of the bill amends Section 230 of the public health law by adding a new subdivision 9-b to ensure that neither the board for professional medical conduct nor the office of professional medical conduct shall identify, charge, or cause a report made to the director of such office to be investigated based solely upon the recommendation or provision of a treatment modality by a licensee that is not universally accepted by the medical profession, including but not limited to, varying modalities used in the treatment of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.
Section two of the bill provides for an immediate effective date.
Justification
In New York State, the Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) is charged with ensuring that appropriate medical care is given to all New York residents, through the investigation and prosecution of professional misconduct by physicians, physician assistants and specialist assistants. Because the medical profession is one that continually evolves with scientific breakthroughs, it is important that the OPMC maintains a flexible, case-specific, investigations policy - particularly where new treatments and acceptance by the medical community do not align.
This has been relevant to concerns raised regarding the investigation of alternative medical treatment of Lyme and tick-borne disease with modalities not universally accepted by the medical community. As the debate surrounding acceptable protocols continues, it is important that the State takes a treatment-neutral approach where possible in order to ensure that medical professionals remain the discerning voice in defining appropriate medical care. To that end, recognizing that the determination of appropriate diagnosis and treatment on a case-by-case basis is a responsibility solely held by a medical professional, it is also critical to ensure that bodies such as the OPMC do not inadvertently endorse or preclude innovative treatments with rules that may dissuade medical professionals from pursuing new methods.
In a memo dated June 15, 2005, the Director of the Office of Professional Medical Conduct "memorialized and endorse(d)" these very principles. The memo, circulated to the staff members of the OPMC advised that so long as a treatment modality effectively treats a medical condition, within certain specifications, its recommendation or provision cannot, by itself, constitute professional misconduct.
Thus, the determination of effective and appropriate treatment remains in the hands of the proper entity, the medical professional. As such, this legislation codifies the existing policy of the OPMC to clarify that the OPMC shall not identify, investigate, or charge a practitioner based solely on their recommendation or provision of a treatment modality that is currently not universally accepted by the medical community.
Legislative history
New Bill.
Fiscal implications
No fiscal implications.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.