SB 234 Text

Introduced Version Senate Bill 234 History

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sb234 intr Senate Bill No. 234
(By Senators Prezioso, Foster, Hunter, Sharpe, Stollings, Boley, Caruth, Jenkins and Kessler)
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[Introduced January 16, 2008; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §48-25A-1, §48-25A-2 and §48-25A-3, all relating to the creation of a Maternal Mortality Review Team; members; and responsibilities.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §48-25A-1, §48-25A-2 and §48-25A-3, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 25A. MATERNAL MORTALITY REVIEW TEAM.
§48-25A-1. Legislative findings.
The Legislature finds that there is a need for a process to study the causes of maternal deaths. It has been found that comprehensive studies indicate that maternal mortalities are more extensive than first appears on death certificates. The Legislature finds that more extensive studies would enable a more fully developed plan to avoid these deaths in the future.
§48-25A-2. Maternal Fatality Review Team.
(a) The Maternal Fatality Review Team is hereby established under the office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The Maternal Fatality Review Team is a multi-disciplinary team created to review the deaths of women who die during pregnancy, at the time of birth or within one year of the birth of a child.
(b) The Maternal Fatality Review Team is to consist of the following members, appointed by the Governor, to serve three-year terms:
(1) The Chief Medical Examiner, who is to serve as the chairperson of the Maternal Fatality Review Team and is responsible for calling and coordinating all meetings;
(2) The Director of the Office of Maternal Child and Family Health Program in the Bureau of Public Health or a designee;
(3) The Director of the Division of Vital Statistics or a designee;
(4) Representation from each of the three medical schools in the state;
(5) The Director of Obstetrics, the Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the Director of Pediatrics at each of the tertiary care hospitals in the state;
(6) One representative of the State Medical Association;
(7) One representative of the State Nurses Association;
(8) One representative of the State Osteopathic Association;
(9) One representative of private practice physicians;
(10) One representative of the West Virginia Chapter of the State College of Nurse Midwifery;
(11) One representative of the West Virginia Chapter of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology;
(12) One representative of the West Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; and
(13) Any additional person that the chair of the team determines is needed on a particular case being considered.
(c) Each member shall serve for a term of five years. Of the members of the commission first appointed, one shall be appointed for a term ending the thirtieth day of June, two thousand nine, and one each for terms ending one, two, three and four years thereafter.
(d) Members of the Maternal Fatality Review Team shall, unless sooner removed, continue to serve until their respective terms expire and until their successors have been appointed and have qualified.
(e) An appointment of a physician, whether for a full term or to fill a vacancy, is to be made by the Governor from among three nominees selected by the West Virginia State Medical Association or the organization to be represented on the team. When an appointment is for a full term, the nomination is to be submitted to the Governor not later than eight months prior to the date on which the appointment is to become effective. In the case of an appointment to fill a vacancy, the nominations are to be submitted to the Governor within thirty days after the request for the nomination has been made by the Governor to the chairperson or president of the organization. When an association fails to submit to the Governor nominations for the appointment in accordance with the requirements of this section, the Governor may make the appointment without nominations.
(f) Each member of the Maternal Fatality Review Team shall serve without additional compensation and may not be reimbursed for any expenses incurred in the discharge of his or her duties under the provisions of this article.

§48-25A-3. Responsibilities of the Maternal Mortality Review Team.

(a) The Maternal Fatality Review Team shall, pursuant to the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a, promulgate rules applicable to the following:
(1) The standard procedures for the establishment, formation and conduct of the Maternal Fatality Review Team; and

(2) The protocols for the review of maternal mortalities. (b) The Maternal Fatality Review Team shall:

(1) Review all deaths of women who die during pregnancy, at the time of birth or within one year of the birth of a child;

(2) Establish the trends, patterns and risk factors;

(3) Provide statistical analysis regarding the causes of maternal fatalities in West Virginia; and
(4) Promote public awareness of the incidence and causes of maternal fatalities, including recommendations for their reduction.
(c) The Maternal Fatality Review Team shall submit an annual report to the Governor and to the Legislature concerning its activities and the incidents of maternal fatalities within the state. The report is due annually on the first day of December. The report is to include statistics setting forth the number of maternal fatalities, identifiable trends in maternal fatalities in the state, including possible causes, if any, and recommendations to reduce the number of preventable maternal fatalities in the state. The report is to also include the number of mothers whose deaths have been determined to have been unexpected or unexplained.
(d) The Maternal Fatality Review Team, in the exercise of its duties as defined in this section, may not:
(1) Call witnesses or take testimony from individuals involved in the investigation of a maternal fatality;
(2) Contact a family member of the deceased mother, except if a member of the team is involved in the investigation of the death and must contact a family member in the course of performing his or her duties outside of the team; or
(3) Enforce any public health standard or criminal law or otherwise participate in any legal proceeding, except if a member of the team is involved in the investigation of the death or resulting prosecution and must participate in a legal proceeding in the course of performing in his or her duties outside of the team. (e) Proceedings, records and opinions of the Maternal Fatality Review Team are confidential, in accordance with section one, article seven, chapter forty-nine of this code, and are not subject to discovery, subpoena or introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding. Nothing in this subsection is to be construed to limit or restrict the right to discover or use in any civil or criminal proceeding anything that is available from another source and entirely independent of the proceedings of the Maternal Fatality Review Team.
(f) Members of the Maternal Fatality Review Team may not be questioned in any civil or criminal proceeding regarding information presented in or opinions formed as a result of a meeting of the team. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to prevent a member of the Maternal Mortality Review Team from testifying to information obtained independently of the team or which is public information.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a Maternal Mortality Review Team and to establish its members and responsibilities.

This article is new: therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.

This bill was recommended for passage during the 2008 Regular Session of the Legislature by the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability.