Alabama Administrative Code › Title 540 - ALABAMA BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS › Chapter 540-X-9 - MISCELLANEOUS › Section 540-X-9-.12 - Confidentiality Of Records

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) All
			 reports of investigations; documents subpoenaed by the Board; reports of any
			 investigative committee appointed by the Board; memoranda of the Board's
			 counsel relating to investigations; statements of persons interviewed by the
			 Board or any committee of the Board; all information, interviews, reports,
			 statements or memoranda of any kind furnished to the Board or any committee of
			 the Board; and any findings, conclusions or recommendations resulting from
			 proceedings of the Board or any committee of the Board, unless presented as
			 evidence at a public hearing, shall be privileged and confidential, shall be
			 used only in the exercise of the proper functions of the Board, and shall not
			 be public records nor be available for court subpoena or for discovery
			 proceedings.
(2) Nothing contained
			 in paragraph (1) shall apply to records made in the regular course of business
			 of an individual. Documents or records otherwise available from original
			 sources are not to be construed as immune from discovery or use in any civil
			 proceedings merely because they were presented or considered during the
			 proceedings of the Board of Medical Examiners or the Medical Licensure
			 Commission.
(3) The Board may
			 authorize the release of investigative records and files to municipal, county,
			 state, and Federal law enforcement or regulatory agencies or officials and to
			 state and United States territorial medical licensing agencies or officials.
			 The procedure for authorizing release of investigative records shall be the
			 following:
(a) Requests for release of any
			 investigative records shall be in writing to the Executive Director or Chairman
			 of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners from the requesting agency or
			 official.
(b) The written request
			 shall state, in detail sufficient for the Board to make an informed decision
			 concerning the necessity for release, the reason(s) for requesting the records,
			 the exact manner in which the records will be utilized, whether release or
			 disclosure of the records to any additional entity or third party is
			 contemplated, and the identity of the entity or third party to whom the further
			 disclosure of the records is contemplated.
(c) Authorizations by the Board for the
			 release of investigative records to law enforcement or regulatory agencies or
			 officials shall be separately recorded in the Minutes of the Board, and a
			 cumulative record of all written requests and documents released by the Board
			 pursuant to the requests shall be maintained, alphabetically, in a file
			 entitled, "Release by Board of Investigative Records."
(d) When disclosure of any requested
			 investigative record would violate a state or Federal statute, would interfere
			 with any ongoing Board investigation or enforcement proceeding, or would
			 disclose investigative techniques and procedures the effectiveness of which
			 would thereby be impaired, then the Board shall not authorize the release of
			 the requested records.