AB 657

This bill creates a right and obligation for a health care provider to provide

medically accurate information to patients to whom the health care provider

provides medical care. The bill also creates a right for a patient to receive medically

accurate information from a health care provider. The bill prohibits interference or

other diminishment of the rights and obligations relating to medically accurate

information, and further prohibits employment retribution based upon a health care

provider's exercise of the rights and obligations relating to the provision of medically

accurate information.

Under the bill, the state, including any political subdivision or instrumentality

of the state, may not do either of the following: 1) require any information that is not

medically accurate to be included on a procedure or treatment form; or 2) prohibit a

health care provider from including medically accurate information or from deleting

information that in the health care provider's medical judgment is either not

medically accurate or not somehow relevant to the patient's specific request for care

or treatment.

Under the bill, a patient or health care provider may file a civil action for a

violation related to the patient's right to accurate medical information. The bill

allows the person to seek, in addition to injunctive relief and punitive damages,

compensatory damages that reflect his or her actual damages or statutory damages

of $5,000 per violation.

A statutory damages option of $20,000 per violation is available to a health care

provider who files a civil action after experiencing employment retribution for his or

her provision of medical care, after being prevented from providing medically

accurate information to a patient, or after being required to provide medically

inaccurate information to patient.

The bill also authorizes the attorney general to commence a civil action if he or

she has reasonable cause to believe that any person is violating a patient's or health

care provider's rights relating to the receipt or provision of medically accurate

information. Under the bill, a court may award injunctive relief and compensatory

damages and an additional assessment of up to $20,000 for the first violation and

$40,000 for each subsequent violation.