00SENATE BILL NO. 81                                                                                                      
01 "An Act relating to immunization records for children under the age of seven."                                          
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1.  AS 18.23.030(a) is amended to read:                                                                    
04  (a)  Except as provided in (b) of this section and AS 18.50.230(b), all data and                                    
05 information acquired by a review organization, in the exercise of its duties and                                        
06 functions, shall be held in confidence and may not be disclosed to anyone except to                                     
07 the extent necessary to carry out the purposes of the review organization, and is not                                   
08 subject to subpoena or discovery.  Except as provided in (b) of this section, a person                                  
09 described in AS 18.23.020 may not disclose what transpired at a meeting of a review                                     
10 organization except to the extent necessary to carry out the purposes of a review                                       
11 organization, and the proceedings and records of a review organization are not subject                                  
12 to discovery or introduction into evidence in a civil action against a health care                                      
13 provider arising out of the matter that is the subject of consideration by the review                                   
14 organization. Information, documents, or records otherwise available from original                                      

01 sources are not immune from discovery or use in a civil action merely because they                                      
02 were presented during proceedings of a review organization, nor may a person who                                        
03 testified before a review organization or who is a member of it be prevented from                                       
04 testifying as to matters within the person's knowledge, but a witness may not be asked                                  
05 about the witness's testimony before a review organization or opinions formed by the                                    
06 witness as a result of its hearings, except as provided in (b) of this section.                                         
07    * Sec. 2.  AS 18.50.230(b) is amended to read:                                                                       
08  (b)  The funeral director or person acting as the funeral director who first                                          
09 assumes custody of a dead body shall file the death certificate.  Except as otherwise                                  
10 provided in this subsection, in the case of the death of a child who is under the                                       
11 age of seven, the death certificate must be accompanied by a record of the dates,                                       
12 if any, on which the child was immunized against diseases, the name and type of                                         
13 each vaccine administered, the name of each vaccine's manufacturer, and each                                            
14 vaccine's lot and batch number.  The funeral director or the person acting as the                                      
15 funeral director shall obtain the personal data and immunization record from the next                                 
16 of kin or the best qualified person or source available and the medical certification of                                
17 cause of death from the person responsible for this information.  If the immunization                                  
18 record cannot be obtained within three days of the child's death, the funeral                                           
19 director or person acting as the funeral director shall file the death certificate in                                   
20 compliance with the time limit in (a) of this section, continue efforts to obtain the                                   
21 immunization record from the next of kin or other source, and request the                                               
22 immunization record from the mortality review committee established by the                                              
23 commissioner of health and social services as described in AS 18.23.070(5)(C).                                          
24 The committee shall provide the requested information within 90 days if the                                             
25 information is known by the committee, and, if the information is provided by the                                       
26 committee or other source, the funeral director or person acting as the funeral                                         
27 director shall file the information with the local registrar for retention with the                                     
28 death certificate.                                                                                                     
29    * Sec. 3.  This Act applies to deaths occurring on or after the effective date of this Act.