S 555: Relates to requiring a medical facility or related service to obtain express prior written consent before filming and/or broadcasting of visual images of a patient's medical treatment.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 555 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. KRUEGER, ADDABBO, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, LIU, RIVERA, WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law and the civil rights law, in relation to prohibiting the making and/or broadcasting of visual images of individuals undergoing medical treatment without prior writ- ten consent The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2 2806-c to read as follows: 3 § 2806-c. Restrictions on broadcasting of patients. 1. Every patient 4 in a health care facility in this state shall have the right to have 5 privacy in treatment and in caring for personal needs, including the 6 broadcasting of the recognizable image or speech of such patient 7 involved in a health care procedure within the confines of such facili- 8 ty, with the exception of broadcasting such image or speech for the 9 purposes of advancing the health care treatment of the individual, a 10 quality assurance program, the education or training of health care 11 personnel, or necessary security purposes. 12 2. Such privacy in treatment shall include the obtaining by the health 13 care facility of express written consent on a separate document used 14 solely for such purpose from an individual receiving treatment in such 15 facility prior to broadcasting the recognizable image or speech of such 16 patient involved in such treatment. In the case of broadcasting the 17 recognizable image or speech for education or training of health care 18 personnel, the patient shall have the right to know of and shall have 19 the right to refuse the broadcasting for that purpose. A person legally 20 authorized to make health care decisions for the patient or otherwise EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01710-01-5 
 S. 555 2 1 authorized to consent may grant such consent or exercise such refusal if 2 the patient cannot reasonably do so due to such patient's incapacity. 3 3. For the purposes of this section: 4 (a) "health care facility" shall mean a residential health care facil- 5 ity, general hospital, free-standing ambulatory care facility, diagnos- 6 tic and/or treatment center and clinic authorized under this article, or 7 within an ambulance with all doors closed operated by an ambulance 8 service as defined by subdivision two of section three thousand one of 9 this chapter or by a voluntary ambulance service as defined by subdivi- 10 sion three of section three thousand one of this chapter; 11 (b) "quality assurance" shall mean any evaluation of services provided 12 in or by a health care facility for purposes of improvement in safety, 13 quality or outcomes; 14 (c) "education or training of health care personnel" shall mean a 15 program of education or training of health care personnel or students 16 being educated or trained to be health care personnel, that the health 17 care facility has authorized; 18 (d) "broadcasting" of an image or speech shall mean transmission by 19 broadcast, cable, closed circuit, internet or other television or visual 20 medium, social media, or other system by which it can be viewed in 21 violation of the privacy rights and expectations of a patient. Provided 22 however, that broadcasting shall not include transmission of the image 23 or speech of an individual being treated, transported or otherwise cared 24 for or attended to by an ambulance service as defined in subdivision two 25 of section three thousand one of this chapter or by a voluntary ambu- 26 lance service as defined in subdivision three of section three thousand 27 one of this chapter, at an ambulance response scene, public area or 28 during delivery or admission to a health care facility, that is captured 29 by news media, bystanders or others who do not have the written consent 30 of such ambulance service or voluntary ambulance service. 31 (e) Nothing in this section shall apply where the recognizable image 32 or speech is produced by a news department or news division and is 33 broadcast or conveyed as part of a newscast, investigative news program 34 or news report in any electronic or printed form. This section shall not 35 apply to images or speech that has been obtained by professional jour- 36 nalists, newscasters or other individuals or entities recognized by 37 section seventy-nine-h of the civil rights law. 38 4. No health care facility, as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision 39 three of this section, shall incur any liability under this section for 40 the broadcasting by a third party of the recognizable image or speech of 41 a patient involved in a health care procedure in the facility when such 42 image or speech was obtained by the third party without the knowledge or 43 consent of the facility or its staff. 44 5. Nothing in this section shall diminish or impair any right or reme- 45 dy otherwise applicable to any patient. 46 § 2. Section 50-c of the civil rights law, as amended by chapter 643 47 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows: 48 § 50-c. Private right of action. 1. If the identity of the victim of 49 an offense defined in subdivision one of section fifty-b of this article 50 is disclosed in violation of such section, any person injured by such 51 disclosure may bring an action to recover damages suffered by reason of 52 such wrongful disclosure. In any action brought under this section, the 53 court may award reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff. 54 2. If the privacy of an individual as defined in section twenty-eight 55 hundred six-c of the public health law regarding the right to have 56 privacy in treatment and in caring for personal needs, including the 
 S. 555 3 1 broadcasting of the recognizable image or speech of a patient involved 2 in a health care procedure in such a facility has been violated, such 3 individual or the individual's estate representative may bring an action 4 to recover damages suffered by reason of such violation. In any action 5 brought under this section, the court may award reasonable attorney's 6 fees to a prevailing plaintiff. The cause of action created herein shall 7 survive the death of such individual and shall only apply to violations 8 occurring on and after the effective date of this subdivision. 9 3. Nothing in this section shall diminish or impair any right or reme- 10 dy otherwise applicable to any patient. 11 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.