West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 64 - Health › Title 64 - LEGISLATIVE RULE WEST VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES › Series 64-96 - Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team › Section 64-96-5 - Conduct of Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
5.1. The Infant and Maternal Mortality Review
				Team shall meet two to four times per year, based upon the number of
				deaths.
5.2. The Governor shall
				appoint persons to vacancies on the Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team
				as outlined in W. Va. Code '48-25A-2.
5.3. Each member shall serve for a term of
				five years. Of the members of the team first appointed, one shall be appointed
				for a term ending the thirtieth day of June, two thousand eleven, and one each
				for terms ending one, two, three and four years thereafter.
5.4. Members of the Infant and Maternal
				Mortality Review Team shall, unless sooner removed, continue to serve until
				their respective terms expire and until their successors have been appointed
				and have qualified.
5.5. An
				appointment of a physician, whether for a full term or to fill a vacancy, is to
				be made by the Governor from among three nominees selected by the West Virginia
				State Medical Association or the organization to be represented on the team.
				When an appointment is for a full term, the nomination is to be submitted to
				the Governor not later than eight months prior to the date on which the
				appointment is to become effective. In the case of an appointment to fill a
				vacancy, the nominations are to be submitted to the Governor within thirty days
				after the request for the nomination has been made by the Governor to the
				chairperson or president of the organization. When an association fails to
				submit to the Governor nominations for the appointment in accordance with the
				requirements of this section, the Governor may make the appointment without
				nominations.
5.6. The Infant and
				Maternal Mortality Review Team shall submit an annual report to the Governor
				and to the Legislature concerning its activities and the incidents of infant
				and maternal deaths within the state. The report is due annually on the first
				day of December. The report is to include statistics setting forth the number
				of infant and maternal deaths, identifiable trends in infant and maternal
				deaths in the state, including possible causes, if any, and recommendations to
				reduce the number of preventable infant and maternal deaths in the state. The
				report is to also include the number of infants and mothers whose deaths have
				been determined to have been unexpected or unexplained.
5.7. Each member of the Infant and Maternal
				Mortality Review Team shall serve without additional compensation and may not
				be reimbursed for any expenses incurred in the discharge of his or her duties
				under the provisions of this article.
5.8. The chairperson of the Infant and
				Maternal Mortality Review Team, or his or her designee, shall review death
				certificates of infants and women sent quarterly by the office of vital
				statistics.
5.9. Each member of the
				Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team shall examine the records of his or
				her agency to determine if the infant or woman received services at his or her
				agency, and if necessary, may contact other agencies to complete the review.
5.10. Team members shall present
				to the rest of the Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team the information
				obtained from the record reviews, but shall retain the documents in each
				agency=s files.
5.11. All documents
				regarding a particular case that are reviewed by the Infant and Maternal
				Mortality Review Team shall be destroyed by the Team after the publication of
				the annual report in which that case data is included.
5.12. The Infant and Maternal Mortality
				Review Team, in the exercise of its duties as defined in this section, may not:
				call witnesses or take testimony from individuals involved in the investigation
				of an infant or maternal fatality; contact a family member of the deceased
				infant or mother, except if a member of the team is involved in the
				investigation of the death and must contact a family member in the course of
				performing his or her duties outside of the team; or enforce any public health
				standard or criminal law or otherwise participate in any legal proceeding,
				except if a member of the team is involved in the investigation of the death or
				resulting prosecution and must participate in a legal proceeding in the course
				of performing in his or her duties outside of the team.