114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5399 

AN ACT 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 for Veterans Act of 2016’’. 

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

5 UNETHICAL HEALTH CARE ACTIVITIES. 

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

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

8 end the following new section: 

9 ‘‘§ 7330B. Duty to report impaired, incompetent, and 

10 unethical health care activities 

11 ‘‘(a) REPORTING TO STATE LICENSING AUTHOR12 ITY.—In addition to confidential reporting under the qual13 ity-assurance program pursuant to section 7311(b)(4) of 

14 this title and any other reporting authorized or required 

15 by the Secretary, the Secretary shall ensure that each phy16 sician of the Department is informed of the duty of the 

17 physician to report directly any covered activity committed 

18 by another physician that the physician witnesses or other19 wise directly discovers to the applicable licensing authority 

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

21 of the report is licensed to practice medicine. 

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

23 Department shall make a direct report to the State licens24 ing authority of a covered activity under subsection (a) 

25 not later than 5 days after the date on which the physician 
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1 witnesses or otherwise directly discovers the covered activ2 ity. 

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

4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered activity’ means any ac5 tivity occurring in a medical facility of the Depart6 ment that consists of or causes the provision of im7 paired, incompetent, or unethical health care that re8 quires direct reporting under opinion number 9.031 

9 of the Code of Medical Ethics of the American Med10 ical Association. 

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

12 includes any contractor who is a physician at a med13 ical facility of the Department.’’. 

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

15 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

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

17 item: 

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

18 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

19 7462(a)(1)(A) of such title is amended by inserting before 
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1 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, including pursuant to sec2 tion 7330B(c) of this title’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 6, 

2016. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5399 

AN ACT 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure 

unethical health care activities. licensing authorities impaired, incompetent, and Affairs fulfill the ethical duty to report to State that physicians of the Department of Veterans