Davis Signs Several Health Bills Into Law

Addressing measures passed during the Legislative session that ended earlier this month, Gov. Gray Davis (D) has signed the following health-related bills:

• AB 289: Sponsored by Assembly member Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach), the bill allows narcotic treatment programs to continue to employ physicians and charge for professional services without violating state prohibitions against the corporate practice of medicine (Office of the Governor release, 9/24).
  
• AB 564: Sponsored by Assembly member Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), the bill requires dentists to report to the Dental Board of California when a patient is hospitalized after receiving dental treatment. The bill also requires the dental board to record the reports and share them with the Legislature by January 2003 (Office of the Governor release, 9/20).
  
• AB 734: Sponsored by Assembly member Wilma Chan (D-Alameda), the bill permits funds from the Mass Media Communications Account of the California Children and Families Trust Fund to be used for programs related to tobacco, alcohol and drug use cessation for pregnant women (Office of the Governor release, 9/24).
  
• AB 809: Sponsored by Assembly member Simon Salinas (D-Salinas), the measure allows community clinics that are authorized to dispense drugs without a pharmacist to use remotely controlled automated drug delivery systems (Office of the Governor release, 9/20).
  
• AB 1263: Sponsored by Assembly member Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), the bill allows the Department of Health Services to participate in a "rapid" HIV test program conducted with the CDC.
  
• AB 1311: Sponsored by Assembly member Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), the measure requires care providers to release medical records to patients at no cost for use in an appeal of eligibility in public benefit programs, such as Medi-Cal.
  
• AB 1643: Sponsored by Assembly member Gloria Negrete-McLeod (D-Chino), the bill requires temporary nursing staffing agencies to ensure that all staff members meet licensing requirements, pass a criminal background check and not be involved in unresolved allegations of patient abuse.
  
• SB 751: Sponsored by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), the measure requires hospitals to make an effort to contact family members when making health care decisions for patients who are unconscious or unable to communicate when they arrive at the hospital (Office of the Governor release, 9/24).