Senate Bill No. 173
(By Senator Bailey)
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[Introduced January 11, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article three, chapter thirty of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated
section fourteen-a, relating to creating a medical practice
protection act; requiring physicians and podiatrists
licensed in West Virginia to submit to the board of
medicine copies of final orders and settlements in medical
malpractice cases; and providing for suspension of licenses
for untimely submissions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter thirty of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fourteen-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. WEST VIRGINIA MEDICAL PRACTICE ACT.
§30-3-14a. Submission of final orders and settlement
agreements.
(a) This section may be known and cited as the "Medical
Practice Protection Act."
(b) In addition to the requirements of section fourteen of
this article, it is the responsibility of every physician and
podiatrist licensed in this state to submit to the board within
thirty days from any judgment, or settlement of a civil or
medical malpractice action, except product liability actions, a
certified copy of the final order detailing the judgment or a
copy of the settlement agreement, as applicable.
(c) If the physician and podiatrist fails to timely submit
the copy, as required by subsection (b) of this section, the
license of the physician or podiatrist is automatically
suspended, for the longer of thirty days or until the copy is
submitted.
(d) The board shall review all copies of orders and
settlement agreements submitted and take action it considers
appropriate under the circumstances.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require physicians and
podiatrists licensed in West Virginia to submit to the Board of Medicine copies of final orders and settlements in medical
malpractice cases.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.