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.