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An Act To Require Destruction of Certain Medical Records and Allow Access to Certain Death Records
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 34-B MRSA §1207, sub-§1, ¶H, as amended by PL 2011, c. 347, §10, is further amended to read:
 
H. The names and dates of death of individuals who died while patients at the Augusta Mental Health Institute, the Bangor Mental Health Institute, the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center or, the Riverview Psychiatric Center or the Pineland Hospital and Training Center may be made available to the public in accordance with rules adopted by the department. The rules must require the department to notify the public regarding the release of the information and to maintain the confidentiality of information concerning any deceased individual whose surviving relatives notify the department that they object to public disclosure. Rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A; and
Sec. 2.  34-B MRSA §3863, sub-§10  is enacted to read:
 
10.  Destruction of record.     If, after examining a person for the purpose of providing a 2nd opinion pursuant to subsection 7, a staff physician or licensed clinical psychologist determines that the finding required for admission under subsection 2, paragraph B is not met and the person has not been medicated prior to the examination of the person, the staff physician or licensed clinical psychologist shall destroy the written application and accompanying certificate.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires that when a physician or clinical psychologist has evaluated a person for the purpose of providing a 2nd opinion on whether the person meets the criteria for emergency admission to a psychiatric hospital and determines that the person does not meet the criteria, the physician or clinical psychologist must destroy the written application for emergency admission. The bill also authorizes the names and dates of death of individuals who died while patients at the Pineland Hospital and Training Center to be made available to the public in accordance with rules adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services.