I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5399 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that physicians of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs fulfill the ethical duty to report to 

State licensing authorities impaired, incompetent, and unethical health 

care activities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 7, 2016 

Mr. ROE of Tennessee introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that physicians of the Department of Veterans Affairs fulfill the 

ethical duty to report to State licensing authorities impaired, incompetent, and unethical health care activities. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ethical Patient Care 

5 for Veterans Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DUTY TO REPORT IMPAIRED, INCOMPETENT, AND 

2 UNETHICAL HEALTH CARE ACTIVITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 74 of 

4 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 7330B. Duty to report impaired, incompetent, and 

7 unethical health care activities 

8 ‘‘(a) REPORTING TO STATE LICENSING AUTHOR9 ITY.—In addition to confidential reporting under the qual10 ity-assurance program pursuant to section 7311(b)(4) of 

11 this title and any other reporting authorized or required 

12 by the Secretary, the Secretary shall ensure that each phy13 sician of the Department is informed of the duty of the 

14 physician to report directly any covered activity committed 

15 by another physician that the physician witnesses or other16 wise directly discovers to the applicable licensing authority 

17 of each State in which the physician who is the subject 

18 of the report is licensed to practice medicine. 

19 ‘‘(b) TIMING OF REPORTING.—Each physician of the 

20 Department shall make a direct report to the State licens21 ing authority of a covered activity under subsection (a) 

22 not later than five days after the date on which the physi23 cian witnesses or otherwise directly discovers the covered 

24 activity. 

25 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered activity’ means any ac2 tivity occurring in a medical facility of the Depart3 ment that consists of or causes the provision of im4 paired, incompetent, or unethical health care that re5 quires direct reporting under opinion number 9.031 

6 of the Code of Medical Ethics of the American Med7 ical Association. 

8 ‘‘(2) The term ‘physician of the Department’ 

9 includes any contractor who is a physician at a med10 ical facility of the Department.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

12 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

13 after the item relating to section 7330A the following new 

14 item: 

‘‘7330B. Duty to report impaired, incompetent, and unethical health care activities.’’. 

15 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

16 7462(a)(1)(A) of such title is amended by inserting before 

17 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, including pursuant to sec18 tion 7330B(c) of this title’’. 

Æ 


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