An Act Regarding the Maternal and Infant Death Review Panel
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1599
Committee Amendment CA_A_S383 (Senate)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A." to S.P. 606, L.D. 1599, Bill, "An Act 
Regarding the Maternal and Infant Death Review Panel" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
emergency clause and insel1ing the following: 
'Sec. 1. 22 MRS A §261, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 467, § I, is amended to read: 
§261. Maternal.and infant deatb.'eview panel 
Thedepal1ment shall establish the matel'llal and infant death review panel in 
accordance with this section. 
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. "Center" means the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 
B. "Deceased person" means a woman who died during pregnancy or within 42 days 
of giving biI1h or a child who died within 1 year of biI1h. 
C. "Director" means the director of the center. 
C-1. "Family" means a woman who has experienced a fetal death or the parent or 
parents or other authorized representative of a deceased person. 
D. "Panel" means the maternal and infant death review panel established under this 
section. 
E. 
"Panel coordinator" means an employee of the center who is appointed by the 
director or a person designated by the panel coordinator. The panel coordinator must 
be a licensed physician or registered nurse or other health care professional licensed 
or registered in this State. 
2. Membership. The panel consists of health care and social service providers, 
public health officials, law enforcement officers and other persons with professional 
expertise on maternal and infant health and m0l1ality. The director shall appoint the 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITIEE AMENDMENT" A" to s.p. 606, L.b. 1599 
members of the' panel, who serve at the pleasure of the director. 
The director shall 
appoint an employee of the center to serve as panel coordinator. 
3. Contact with family. The first contact pursuant to this section with a parent or 
parents or other authorized representative of a deceased person the family may not occur 
prior to 4 months after the death and must: 
A. Be by letter from the State Health Officer on letterhead of the center; and 
B. 
Include a separate an invitation to participate in a review of the death of the 
deceased person or the fetal death from a statewide organization dedicated to 
improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant 
m0l1ality. 
4. 
Duties and powers of panel coordinator. . The panel coordinator has the 
following duties and powers. 
A. The panel coordinator shall review the deaths of all women during pregnancy or 
within 42 days of giving birth, the majority of cases in which a fetal death occurs 
after 28 weeks of gestation and the majority of deaths of infants under 1 year of age, 
with' selection of cases of infant death based on the need to review pal1icular causes 
of death or obtaining the need to obtain a representative sample of all deaths. 
A-I. The panel coord inator may have access to the death certificates of deceased 
persons and to fetal death cel1ificates of fetal deaths occurring after' 28 weeks of 
gestation. 
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B. Prior to accessing medical records, the panel coordinator shall obtain permission 
in all cases for access to those records from the parent or parents or other authorized 
representative of the deceased pefSOO family. 
C. 
Prior to conducting a voluntary interview, the panel coordinator shall obtain 
permission in all cases for the interview from the sarent or sarents or other 
authorized resresentative of the deceased SefSOO family. 
D. 
The panel coordinator may conduct voluntary interviews with the parent or 
parents of a deceased child or other relevant family members of a deceased person 
family. The purpose of the voluntary interview is limited to gatheringinfOlmation or 
data for the purposes of the panel in summary or abstract form without family names 
or patient identifiers. A person who conducts interviews under this paragraph must 
meet the qualifications for panel coordinator and also have professional experience or 
training in bereavement services. 
A person conducting an interview under this 
paragraph may make a referral for bereavement counseling. 
E. The panel coordinator shall prepare a summary or abstract of relevant information 
regarding the deceased person case, as determined to be useful to the panel, but 
without the name or identifier of the deceased person or the woman who experienced 
a fetal death, and shall present the summary or abstract to the panel. 
5. Duties and powers of panel. The panel has the following duties and powers. 
A. 
The panel shall conduct comprehensive multidisciplinary reviews of data 
presented by the panel coordinator. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A 
"to S.P, 606, L.D. 1599 
B. 
The panel shall present an annual rep0l1 to the depal1ment and to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human 
services matters. The rep0l11mist identify factors contributing to maternal and infant 
death in the State, determine the strengths and weaknesses of the current rhaternal 
and infant health care delivery system and make recommendations to the department 
to decrease the rate of maternal and infant death. 
The panel shall offer a copy of the annual rep0l1 to the parent or parents or other 
authorized representative of the deceased .person person or persons that granted 
permission to the panel coordinator for a voluntary interview under subsection 4, 
paragraph C. 
C. The panel shall share the results of its data reviews and recommendations with the 
child death and serious injury review panel established pursuant to section 4004, 
subsection 1, paragraph E. The maternal and infant death review panel may request 
and review data from the child death and serious injury review panel, regardless of 
any prior work by the child death and serious injury review panel. 
6. Limitations. The panel coordinator may not proceed with reviews of medical 
records or voluntary interviews without the permission of the parent or parents or other 
authorized representative of the deceased person family. The panel coordinator may not 
. photocopy or retain copies of medical records or review cases of ab0l1ion. In pelforming 
work under this section, the panel coordinator shall minimize the burden imposed on 
health care practitioners, hospitals and facilities. 
7. Confidentiality. All records created or maintained pursuant to this section, other 
than rep0l1s provided under subsection 5, paragraph B, are protected as provided in this 
subsection. The records are confidential under section 42, subsection 5. The records are 
not open to public inspection, are not public records for the purposes of Title 1, chapter 
13, subchapter 1 and are not subject to subpoena or civil process nor admissible in 
evidence in connection with any judiCial, executive, legislative or other proceeding. 
8. Immunity. A health care practitioner, hospital or health care facility or the 
employee or agent of that person or entity is not subject to civil or criminal liability 
arising from the disclosure or furnishing of records or information to the panel pursuant 
to this section. 
9. Funding. The department may accept any public or private funds to carry out the 
purposes of th is section. 
10. 
Rulemaldng. 
The depaJ1ment shall adopt rules to implement this section, 
including rules on collecting information and data, selecting members of the panel, 
collecting and using individually identifiable health information and conducting reviews 
under this section. The rules must ensure that access to individually identifiable health 
information is restricted as much as possible while enabling the panel to accomplish its 
work. The rules must establish a protocol to preserve confidentiality, specify the manner 
in which the family and authorized representatives will be contacted for permission and 
maintain public confidence in the protection of individually identifiable information. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
~e91. This section is renenlen .InnunI'v 1. ?011' 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 606, L.D. 1599 
SUMMARY 
This amendment authorizes the maternal and infant death panel coordinator to have 
access to fetal death certificates. 
The amendment requires the panel coordinator to 
review the majority of fetal deaths occurring after 28 weeks' gestation. The amendment 
prohibits the panel coordinator from reviewing cases of abortion. It retains the other 
provisions of the bill, including repeal of the sunset on the maternal and infant death 
review panel on January 1,20 II. 
FISCAL :-';OTE HE()L Ild',j) 
(See attacbed) 
Page4 - 124LR2329(02)-1 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Approved: 02/2211 0 Mac. 
LD 1599 
LR 2329(02) 
An Act Regarding the Maternal and Infant Death Review Panel 
Fiscal Note for BiII as Amended by Committee Amendment "A" 
Committee: Health and Human Services 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - General Fund 
Additional costs to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the Depaliment of Health and Human Services 
can be absorbed by the center utilizing existing budgeted resources. 
LR2329(02) - Fiscal Note - Page I of I