Physicians for Informed Consent Opposes SB 920 - Physicians for Informed Consent

March 25, 2022

Re: SB 920 (Medical Board of California to easily inspect medical and pharmacy records, including vaccination records, of all patients in California without their consent)
Position: Oppose

Dear California Legislators,

On behalf of hundreds of physician and surgeon members of Physicians for Informed Consent and thousands of patients and families who are our members, we oppose SB 920.

SB 920¹ proposes to shortcut current medical records privacy laws, which protect all patients, in order to make it easier to bypass the administrative procedures safeguarding current California law for obtaining the medical records of deceased or injured patients.²

We can appreciate that there are situations when a family has lost a loved one or a person has become medically injured and thus is not able to consent to the release of medical records.³ However, there is already existing law³ which grants a patient’s representative the right to access the deceased’s medical records. Thus, there is no need for SB 920, and passing it would jeopardize the privacy of millions of Californians who are alive and well and capable of consenting (or refusing) for the inspection of their personal medical records.

SB 920 would legalize easy access to the medical records of all people in California, including vaccination status and other highly sensitive information, and we urge you to oppose such a divisive bill.

Respectfully,

Shira Miller, M.D.
Founder and President
Physicians for Informed Consent

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB920
https://www.findlaw.com/state/california-law/california-medical-records-laws.html; see especially Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §1985.3; Cal. Civ. Code §56.11; Cal. Civ. Code. § 1798 et seq.; Cal. Health & Safety Code §123105.
https://sd14.senate.ca.gov/news/press-release/hurtado-introduces-legislation-increase-transparency-medical-board-california

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About Physicians for Informed Consent

Physicians for Informed Consent is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization focused on science and statistics. PIC delivers data on infectious diseases and vaccines, and unites doctors, scientists, healthcare professionals, attorneys, and families who support voluntary vaccination. In addition, the PIC Coalition for Informed Consent consists of over 300 U.S. and international organizations that represent millions of people. To learn more, please visit physiciansforinformedconsent.org.

SB 920 was pulled on April 1, 2022, and the committee meeting cancelled.