HF 1150

1st Engrossment - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to crime victims; authorizing testing for HIV 
  1.3             or hepatitis B under certain circumstances; permitting 
  1.4             the sale of six or fewer unused hypodermic needles or 
  1.5             syringes without a prescription; appropriating money; 
  1.6             amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 144.761, 
  1.7             subdivisions 5 and 7; 144.762, subdivision 2, and by 
  1.8             adding a subdivision; 144.765; 144.767, subdivision 1; 
  1.9             151.40; and 152.01, subdivision 18. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 144.761, 
  1.12  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.13     Subd. 5.  [EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL.] 
  1.14  "Emergency medical services personnel" means: 
  1.15     (1) individuals employed to provide prehospital emergency 
  1.16  medical services; 
  1.17     (2) persons employed as licensed police officers under 
  1.18  section 626.84, subdivision 1, who experience a significant 
  1.19  exposure in the performance of their duties; 
  1.20     (3) firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical 
  1.21  technicians, licensed nurses, rescue squad personnel, or other 
  1.22  individuals who serve as employees or volunteers of an ambulance 
  1.23  service as defined by sections 144.801 to 144.8091, who provide 
  1.24  prehospital emergency medical services; 
  1.25     (4) crime lab personnel receiving a significant exposure 
  1.26  while involved in a criminal investigation; 
  1.27     (5) correctional guards, including security guards at the 
  2.1   Minnesota security hospital, employed by the state or a local 
  2.2   unit of government who experience employed in state and local 
  2.3   correctional facilities and other employees of the state 
  2.4   department of corrections, if the guard or employee experiences 
  2.5   a significant exposure to an inmate who is transported to a 
  2.6   facility for emergency medical care in the performance of their 
  2.7   duties; and 
  2.8      (6) employees at the Minnesota security hospital and the 
  2.9   Minnesota sexual psychopathic treatment center who are employed 
  2.10  by the state or a local unit of government and who experience a 
  2.11  significant exposure in the performance of their duties; and 
  2.12     (7) other persons who render emergency care or assistance 
  2.13  at the scene of an emergency, or while an injured person is 
  2.14  being transported to receive medical care, and who would qualify 
  2.15  for immunity from liability under the good samaritan law, 
  2.16  section 604A.01. 
  2.17     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 144.761, 
  2.18  subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
  2.19     Subd. 7.  [SIGNIFICANT EXPOSURE.] "Significant exposure" 
  2.20  means: 
  2.21     (1) contact, in a manner supported by contemporary 
  2.22  epidemiological research as a significant method of HIV or 
  2.23  hepatitis B transmission, of the broken skin or mucous membrane 
  2.24  of emergency medical services personnel with a patient's blood, 
  2.25  amniotic fluid, pericardial fluid, peritoneal fluid, pleural 
  2.26  fluid, synovial fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, semen, vaginal 
  2.27  secretions, or bodily fluids grossly contaminated with blood; 
  2.28     (2) a needle stick, scalpel or instrument wound, or other 
  2.29  wound inflicted by an object that is contaminated with blood, 
  2.30  and that is capable of cutting or puncturing the skin of 
  2.31  emergency medical services personnel; or 
  2.32     (3) an exposure that occurs by any other method of 
  2.33  transmission recognized by contemporary epidemiological 
  2.34  standards as a significant exposure. 
  2.35     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 144.762, 
  2.36  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.1      Subd. 2.  [REQUIREMENTS FOR PROTOCOL.] The postexposure 
  3.2   notification protocol must include the following: 
  3.3      (1) a method for emergency medical services personnel to 
  3.4   notify the facility that they may have experienced a significant 
  3.5   exposure from a patient that was transported to the facility.  
  3.6   The facility shall provide to the emergency medical services 
  3.7   personnel a significant exposure report form to be completed by 
  3.8   the emergency medical services personnel in a timely fashion; 
  3.9      (2) a process to investigate and determine whether a 
  3.10  significant exposure has occurred.  This investigation must be 
  3.11  completed within 72 hours of receipt of the exposure report, or 
  3.12  within a time period that will enable the patient to benefit 
  3.13  from contemporary standards of care for reducing the risk of 
  3.14  infection; 
  3.15     (3) if there has been a significant exposure, a process to 
  3.16  determine whether the patient has hepatitis B or HIV infection; 
  3.17     (4) if the patient has an infectious disease that could be 
  3.18  transmitted by the type of exposure that occurred, or, if it is 
  3.19  not possible to determine what disease the patient may have, a 
  3.20  process for making recommendations for appropriate counseling 
  3.21  and testing to the emergency medical services personnel; 
  3.22     (5) compliance with applicable state and federal laws 
  3.23  relating to data practices, confidentiality, informed consent, 
  3.24  and the patient bill of rights; and 
  3.25     (6) a process for providing counseling for the patient to 
  3.26  be tested and for the emergency medical services personnel 
  3.27  filing the exposure report. 
  3.28     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 144.762, is 
  3.29  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.30     Subd. 2a.  [PROTOCOL FOR PEACE OFFICERS.] Employers of 
  3.31  peace officers shall adopt a postexposure notification protocol 
  3.32  for emergency medical services personnel, as defined in section 
  3.33  144.761, subdivision 5, clause (2), who have experienced a 
  3.34  significant exposure in a case where a patient was not 
  3.35  transported to an emergency medical services agency.  The 
  3.36  protocol must include the following: 
  4.1      (1) a method for the emergency medical services personnel 
  4.2   to notify the facility that they may have experienced a 
  4.3   significant exposure in the performance of their duties; 
  4.4      (2) a method for the employer to notify the patient, 
  4.5   whether or not immediately available, that an emergency medical 
  4.6   services personnel has presented notice in accordance with the 
  4.7   protocol provided in clause (1); and 
  4.8      (3) a process for transferring the emergency medical 
  4.9   services personnel and the patient to an emergency medical 
  4.10  services agency, or for bringing a qualified representative and 
  4.11  the services of an emergency medical services agency to the 
  4.12  facility in which the patient is being held for an assessment in 
  4.13  accordance with the protocol provided in subdivisions 1 and 2. 
  4.14     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 144.765, is 
  4.15  amended to read: 
  4.16     144.765 [PATIENT'S RIGHT TO REFUSE TESTING.] 
  4.17     (a) Upon notification of a significant exposure, the 
  4.18  facility shall ask the patient to consent to blood testing to 
  4.19  determine the presence of the HIV virus or the hepatitis B 
  4.20  virus.  The patient shall be informed that the test results 
  4.21  without personally identifying information will be reported to 
  4.22  the emergency medical services personnel.  
  4.23     (b) The patient shall be informed of the right to refuse to 
  4.24  be tested and that information collected through the blood 
  4.25  testing process cannot be used as evidence in any criminal 
  4.26  proceedings.  If the patient refuses to be tested, the patient's 
  4.27  refusal will be forwarded to the emergency medical services 
  4.28  agency and to the emergency medical services personnel.  The 
  4.29  right to refuse a blood test under the circumstances described 
  4.30  in this section does not apply to a prisoner who is in the 
  4.31  custody or under the jurisdiction of the commissioner of 
  4.32  corrections or a local correctional authority as a result of a 
  4.33  criminal conviction. 
  4.34     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 144.767, 
  4.35  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.36     Subdivision 1.  [REPORT TO EMPLOYER.] Results of tests 
  5.1   conducted under this section shall be reported by the facility 
  5.2   to a designated agent of the emergency medical services agency 
  5.3   that employs or uses the emergency medical services personnel 
  5.4   and to the emergency medical services personnel who report the 
  5.5   significant exposure.  The test results shall be reported 
  5.6   without personally identifying information and may not be used 
  5.7   as evidence in any criminal prosecution. 
  5.8      Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 151.40, is 
  5.9   amended to read: 
  5.10     151.40 [POSSESSION AND SALE OF HYPODERMIC SYRINGES AND 
  5.11  NEEDLES.] 
  5.12     Subdivision 1.  [GENERALLY.] Except as otherwise provided 
  5.13  in subdivision 2, it shall be is unlawful for any person to 
  5.14  possess, control, manufacture, sell, furnish, dispense, or 
  5.15  otherwise dispose of hypodermic syringes or needles or any 
  5.16  instrument or implement which can be adapted for subcutaneous 
  5.17  injections, except by the following persons when acting in the 
  5.18  course of their practice or employment: licensed practitioners, 
  5.19  registered pharmacies and their employees or agents, licensed 
  5.20  pharmacists, licensed doctors of veterinary medicine or their 
  5.21  assistants, registered nurses, registered medical technologists, 
  5.22  medical interns, licensed drug wholesalers, their employees or 
  5.23  agents, licensed hospitals, licensed nursing homes, bona fide 
  5.24  hospitals where animals are treated, licensed morticians, 
  5.25  syringe and needle manufacturers, their dealers and agents, 
  5.26  persons engaged in animal husbandry, clinical laboratories, 
  5.27  persons engaged in bona fide research or education or industrial 
  5.28  use of hypodermic syringes and needles provided such persons 
  5.29  cannot use hypodermic syringes and needles for the 
  5.30  administration of drugs to human beings unless such drugs are 
  5.31  prescribed, dispensed, and administered by a person lawfully 
  5.32  authorized to do so, persons who administer drugs pursuant to an 
  5.33  order or direction of a licensed doctor of medicine or of a 
  5.34  licensed doctor of osteopathy duly licensed to practice medicine.
  5.35     Subd. 2.  [SALES OF LIMITED QUANTITIES OF CLEAN NEEDLES AND 
  5.36  SYRINGES.] (a) A registered pharmacy or its agent or a licensed 
  6.1   pharmacist may sell, without a prescription, unused hypodermic 
  6.2   needles and syringes in quantities of ten or fewer, provided 
  6.3   that the pharmacy or pharmacist complies with all of the 
  6.4   requirements of this subdivision. 
  6.5      (b) At any location where hypodermic needles and syringes 
  6.6   are kept for retail sale under this subdivision, the needles and 
  6.7   syringes shall be stored in a manner that makes them available 
  6.8   only to authorized personnel and not openly available to 
  6.9   customers. 
  6.10     (c) No registered pharmacy or licensed pharmacist may 
  6.11  advertise to the public the availability for retail sale, 
  6.12  without a prescription, of hypodermic needles or syringes in 
  6.13  quantities of ten or fewer. 
  6.14     (d) A registered pharmacy or licensed pharmacist that sells 
  6.15  hypodermic needles or syringes under this section may give the 
  6.16  purchaser the materials developed by the commissioner of health 
  6.17  under article 1, section 4. 
  6.18     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 152.01, 
  6.19  subdivision 18, is amended to read: 
  6.20     Subd. 18.  [DRUG PARAPHERNALIA.] (a) Except as otherwise 
  6.21  provided in paragraph (b), "drug paraphernalia" means all 
  6.22  equipment, products, and materials of any kind, except those 
  6.23  items used in conjunction with permitted uses of controlled 
  6.24  substances under this chapter or the Uniform Controlled 
  6.25  Substances Act, which are knowingly or intentionally used 
  6.26  primarily in (1) manufacturing a controlled substance, (2) 
  6.27  injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into 
  6.28  the human body a controlled substance, (3) testing the strength, 
  6.29  effectiveness, or purity of a controlled substance, or (4) 
  6.30  enhancing the effect of a controlled substance.  
  6.31     (b) "Drug paraphernalia" does not include the possession, 
  6.32  manufacture, delivery, or sale of unused hypodermic needles or 
  6.33  syringes in quantities of ten or fewer in accordance with 
  6.34  section 151.40, subdivision 2. 
  6.35     Sec. 9.  [APPROPRIATIONS.] 
  6.36     Subdivision 1.  [COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY.] (a) 
  7.1   $200,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  7.2   commissioner of corrections for the fiscal biennium ending June 
  7.3   30, 1999.  The commissioner shall use this appropriation, in 
  7.4   cooperation with the commissioners of health and corrections, to 
  7.5   provide education and training to peace officers, and other 
  7.6   criminal justice personnel on early intervention and reduction 
  7.7   of possible HIV seroconversion for persons who experience a 
  7.8   significant exposure, as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 
  7.9   144.761.  A portion of this appropriation shall be awarded as 
  7.10  grants to professional employers of emergency medical services 
  7.11  personnel as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 144.761, 
  7.12  subdivision 5, clause (2), to demonstrate effective education 
  7.13  and training services and procedures for implementing the 
  7.14  protocol described in section 4. 
  7.15     (b) $250,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  7.16  commissioner of corrections for the fiscal biennium ending June 
  7.17  30, 1999.  The commissioner shall use this appropriation, in 
  7.18  cooperation with the commissioner of health and the attorney 
  7.19  general, to provide education and training to county attorneys, 
  7.20  public defenders, victim advocates, and shelters on early 
  7.21  intervention and reduction of possible HIV seroconversion for 
  7.22  victims of serious crimes that involve possible HIV exposure.  
  7.23  Of this amount, not less than $150,000 shall be awarded as 
  7.24  grants to professional and nonprofit service providers to 
  7.25  demonstrate effective education and training services and 
  7.26  procedures for linking victim support services, HIV counseling 
  7.27  and testing, and early intervention treatment. 
  7.28     Subd. 2.  [COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH.] $150,000 is 
  7.29  appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of health 
  7.30  for the fiscal biennium ending June 30, 1999, to be used to 
  7.31  evaluate the effects of sections 7 and 8.  The commissioner 
  7.32  shall submit an interim evaluation report to the legislature by 
  7.33  January 15, 2000, and a final report by January 15, 2002. 
  7.34     Subd. 3.  [COMMISSIONER OF HUMAN SERVICES.] $25,000 is 
  7.35  appointed from the general fund to the commissioner of human 
  7.36  services for the biennium ending June 30, 1999, to be used to 
  8.1   reimburse health care providers for counseling, testing, and 
  8.2   early intervention services provided to crime victims who 
  8.3   request the services. 
  8.4      Sec. 10.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  8.5      Sections 7 and 8 are effective July 1, 1998.