AB 955

Under current law, no person may abuse or neglect a person who is a patient

or resident at a care facility, adult day care, foster home, group home, hospice, or

other inpatient health care facility, or who is at risk for abuse or neglect due to a

mental or physical impairment. The penalty for abuse or neglect depends on the

severity of the damage done to the patient, resident, or at-risk person and whether

the actor acted intentionally, recklessly, or negligently.

For example, a person who commits an intentional or reckless act that causes

the death of a patient, resident, or at-risk person is guilty of a Class C felony and may

be fined up to $100,000, imprisoned for up to 40 years, or both. A person who commits

a negligent act that results in the death of a patient, resident, or at-risk person is

guilty of a Class D felony and subject to the same fine but a maximum of 25 years in

prison. A person who acts intentionally, recklessly, or negligently but does not cause

harm or create a risk of harm to a patient, resident, or at-risk person is guilty of a

Class B misdemeanor and may be fined up to $1,000, imprisoned for up to 90 days,

or both.

Under current law, conduct is "reckless" if it creates an unreasonable risk of

death or harm to, and demonstrates a conscious disregard for, the safety of a patient,

resident, or at-risk person. An act, omission, or course of conduct is "negligent" if

the actor should realize that it creates a substantial and unreasonable risk of death

or harm.

Under this bill, conduct may not be considered "abuse" or "neglect" if the act is

mere inefficiency, unsatisfactory conduct, or failure in good performance as the

result of inability, incapacity, inadvertency, or ordinary negligence in an isolated

instance, or a good faith error in judgment or discretion by a health care provider who

acts within the scope of his or her practice or employment.