SB 1700                                          First Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       20141700e1
       
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; creating s. 456.61,
    3         F.S.; exempting from public records requirements
    4         personal identifying information of patients and
    5         physicians held by the Department of Health in the
    6         compassionate use registry; exempting information
    7         related to ordering and dispensing low-THC cannabis;
    8         authorizing specified persons and entities access to
    9         the exempt information; requiring that information
   10         released from the registry remain confidential;
   11         providing a criminal penalty; providing for future
   12         legislative review and repeal; providing a statement
   13         of public necessity; providing a contingent effective
   14         date.
   15          
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Section 456.61, Florida Statutes, is created to
   19  read:
   20         456.61 Public records exemption for personal identifying
   21  information in the compassionate use registry.—
   22         (1) A patient’s personal identifying information held by
   23  the department in the compassionate use registry established
   24  under s. 456.60, including, but not limited to, the patient’s
   25  name, address, telephone number, and government-issued
   26  identification number, and all information pertaining to the
   27  physician’s order for low-THC cannabis and the dispensing
   28  thereof are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s.
   29  24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
   30         (2) A physician’s identifying information held by the
   31  department in the compassionate use registry established under
   32  s. 456.60, including, but not limited to, the physician’s name,
   33  address, telephone number, government-issued identification
   34  number, and Drug Enforcement Administration number, and all
   35  information pertaining to the physician’s order for low-THC
   36  cannabis and the dispensing thereof are confidential and exempt
   37  from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
   38  Constitution.
   39         (3) The department shall allow access to the registry,
   40  including access to confidential and exempt information, to:
   41         (a) A law enforcement agency that is investigating a
   42  violation of law regarding cannabis in which the subject of the
   43  investigation claims an exception established under s. 456.60.
   44         (b) A dispensing organization approved by the department
   45  pursuant to s. 456.60(3)(b) which is attempting to verify the
   46  authenticity of a physician’s order for low-THC cannabis,
   47  including whether the order had been previously filled and
   48  whether the order was written for the person attempting to have
   49  it filled.
   50         (c) A physician who has written an order for low-THC
   51  cannabis for the purpose of monitoring the patient’s use of such
   52  cannabis or for the purpose of determining, before issuing an
   53  order for low-THC cannabis, whether another physician has
   54  ordered the patient’s use of low-THC cannabis. The physician may
   55  access the confidential and exempt information only for the
   56  patient for whom he or she has ordered or is determining whether
   57  to order the use of low-THC cannabis pursuant to s. 456.60.
   58         (d) An employee of the department for the purposes of
   59  maintaining the registry and periodic reporting or disclosure of
   60  information that has been redacted to exclude personal
   61  identifying information.
   62         (e) The department’s relevant health care regulatory boards
   63  responsible for the licensure, regulation, or discipline of a
   64  physician if he or she is involved in a specific investigation
   65  of a violation of s. 456.60. If a health care regulatory board’s
   66  investigation reveals potential criminal activity, the board may
   67  provide any relevant information to the appropriate law
   68  enforcement agency.
   69         (f) A person engaged in bona fide research if the person
   70  agrees:
   71         1. To submit a research plan to the department which
   72  specifies the exact nature of the information requested and the
   73  intended use of the information;
   74         2. To maintain the confidentiality of the records or
   75  information if personal identifying information is made
   76  available to the researcher;
   77         3. To destroy any confidential records or information
   78  obtained after the research is concluded; and
   79         4. Not to contact, directly or indirectly, for any purpose,
   80  a patient or physician whose information is in the registry.
   81         (4) All information released from the registry under
   82  subsection (3) remains confidential and exempt, and a person who
   83  receives access to such information must maintain the
   84  confidential status of the information received.
   85         (5) A person who willfully and knowingly violates this
   86  section commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as
   87  provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
   88         (6) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   89  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   90  on October 2, 2019, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   91  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   92         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   93  necessity that identifying information of patients and
   94  physicians held by the Department of Health in the compassionate
   95  use registry established under s. 456.60, Florida Statutes, be
   96  made confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida
   97  Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution.
   98  Specifically, the Legislature finds that it is a public
   99  necessity to make confidential and exempt from public records
  100  requirements the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and
  101  government-issued identification numbers of patients and
  102  physicians and any other information on or pertaining to a
  103  physician’s order for low-THC cannabis written pursuant to s.
  104  456.60, Florida Statutes, which are held in the registry. The
  105  choice made by a physician and his or her patient to use low-THC
  106  cannabis to treat that patient’s medical condition or symptoms
  107  is a personal and private matter between those two parties. The
  108  availability of such information to the public could make the
  109  public aware of both the patient’s use of low-THC cannabis and
  110  the patient’s diseases or other medical conditions for which the
  111  patient is using low-THC cannabis. The knowledge of the
  112  patient’s use of low-THC cannabis, the knowledge that the
  113  physician ordered the use of low-THC cannabis, and the knowledge
  114  of the patient’s medical condition could be used to embarrass,
  115  humiliate, harass, or discriminate against the patient and the
  116  physician. This information could be used as a discriminatory
  117  tool by an employer who disapproves of the patient’s use of low
  118  THC cannabis or of the physician’s ordering such use. However,
  119  despite the potential hazards of collecting such information,
  120  maintaining the compassionate use registry established under s.
  121  456.60, Florida Statutes, is necessary to prevent the diversion
  122  and nonmedical use of any low-THC cannabis as well as to aid and
  123  improve research done on the efficacy of low-THC cannabis. Thus,
  124  the Legislature finds that it is a public necessity to make
  125  confidential and exempt from public records requirements the
  126  identifying information of patients and physicians held by the
  127  Department of Health in the compassionate use registry
  128  established under s. 456.60, Florida Statutes.
  129         Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
  130  SB 1030, or similar legislation establishing an electronic
  131  system to record a physician’s orders for, and a patient’s use
  132  of, low-THC cannabis takes effect, if such legislation is
  133  adopted in the same legislative session or an extension thereof
  134  and becomes a law.