What's happening
Stephen's law requires chemical dependence treatment programs to notify authorized persons if a patient shows life-threatening behavior, using updated consent forms with contact information.
Why it matters
Aims to improve patient safety by ensuring that someone the patient trusts is notified if the patient exhibits potentially life-threatening behaviors or conditions (like missing appointments or positive drug tests) during or shortly after treatment. This could help prevent overdoses or other emergencies by enabling timely intervention from loved ones or caregivers.
Empowers patients to designate up to three specific people to be contacted in emergencies—balancing privacy with safety. Patients must give informed, written consent for who can be notified, and only those with contact information explicitly listed will be reached, respecting patient autonomy while facilitating support.
Requires treatment programs to update and use a new, standardized consent form (TRS-2) that includes immediate contact details for authorized persons. This makes it easier and more reliable for facilities to reach the right people quickly, reducing confusion or delays when urgent action is needed.
Seeks to ensure compliance with both state and federal confidentiality laws while prioritizing rapid communication in dangerous situations. This addresses a common barrier where privacy laws can inadvertently prevent families or caregivers from being notified about critical developments.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Notify Families of Patient Danger
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Enacting clause stricken
- Referred to alcoholism and drug abuse
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.
Let Patients Name Emergency Contact
Signed by Governor · Sponsor Pete Harckham
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8166
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 4, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. ORTIZ -- read once and referred to the Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to notice to certain persons of a patient treated in a chemical dependence program or facility
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Stephen's law".
§ 2. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new section 22.09-a to read as follows: § 22.09-a Notice to certain persons of patients treated.
(a) When a patient who is currently being treated or has been treated in the last seven days in a treatment program certified by the office demonstrates behavior or conditions that the program believes may cause life-threatening harm to such patient such as missing a scheduled appointment or testing positive for a controlled substance, and when the treatment program has on file a release of information permitting the program to share specific information with specific parties pertaining to the patient's behavior or conditions believed to be life-threatening, the treatment program shall notify parties to whom the patient has authorized consent for the release of confidential information with details consistent with the release of information on file and consistent with federal and state laws.
(b) The treatment program shall only be required to use contact information as specified on the form authorizing consent for the release of confidential information to contact those who are in a position to reduce the harm of a potential relapse. A party which does not list contact information on such form waives its right to receive notice of occurrences under this section.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05434-05-9
A. 8166 2
(c) A treatment program shall not be required to contact more than three parties for any single occurrence.
§ 3. The office of alcoholism and substance abuse services shall update the TRS-2 form (Consent for Release of Information Concerning Alcoholism/Drug Abuse Patient) to include a space in which a signatory may add immediate contact information for persons who are authorized to receive medical information, including but not limited to a phone number and/or an email address. The updated form shall be published no more than ninety days after the effective date of this act.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.