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NY A00272
Bill
Status
1/6/2021
Primary Sponsor
Phillip Steck
Click for details
AI Summary
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Establishes new Mental Hygiene Law Section 9.42 requiring mental health practitioners to make timely and reasonable efforts to reduce or eliminate risk of harm when a patient directly communicates a threat of serious, imminent harm to themselves or a readily identifiable person, with both serious intent and ability to carry out the threat.
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Permits mental health practitioners to modify treatment aspects, initiate hospitalization procedures, notify intended victims, or notify law enforcement officials in response to credible threats of serious harm.
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Protects mental health practitioners from civil or criminal liability, including professional conduct violations, when they reasonably and in good faith disclose or decline to disclose confidential patient information under this section.
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Exempts mental health practitioners from any obligation to take actions that would endanger themselves or increase danger to potential victims, as determined by reasonable professional judgment.
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Requires practitioners to comply with Section 9.46 of the Mental Hygiene Law when making efforts to reduce or eliminate risks of harm.
Legislative Description
Imposes a duty to protect upon mental health practitioners; requires reasonable efforts to modify aspects of treatment in order to reduce or eliminate the risk of harm, initiating procedures for hospitalization, notifying the intended victim or victims, or notifying law enforcement officials when a person directly communicates a threat of serious, imminent harm to self or against a readily identifiable person or persons, and the threat includes both a serious intent to act and the ability to carry out the threat; does not require a mental health practitioner to take any action which, in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment, would endanger such mental health practitioner or increase the danger to a potential victim or victims.
Last Action
referred to mental health
1/5/2022