[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4689 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4689

   To require Federal authorities to provide information in medical 
  records seized from a medical practice to that practice in order to 
             enable it to continue caring for its patients.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 15, 2000

   Mr. Walsh (for himself, Mr. McHugh, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Paul, Mr. 
    Souder, Mr. Quinn, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Cooksey, and Mr. Hilleary) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require Federal authorities to provide information in medical 
  records seized from a medical practice to that practice in order to 
             enable it to continue caring for its patients.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Medical Records Seizure Act of 
2000''.

SEC. 2. SEIZED MEDICAL RECORDS.

    (a) General Rule.--Whenever any Federal authority seizes medical 
records from an active medical practice (including a hospital), it 
shall be the duty of that authority to provide the complete information 
contained in those records to that practice not later than 48 hours 
after the seizure occurs.
    (b) Civil Action.--Any person aggrieved by a failure of a Federal 
authority to carry out a duty imposed on it by subsection (a) may, in a 
civil action against that authority, obtain appropriate relief, 
including statutory damages in the amount of $1,000 for each 24 hours 
of delay in providing the information beyond the 48 hour period 
specified in subsection (a). For these purposes, if the delay does not 
evenly divide into 24-hour segments, the remainder shall count as a 
single segment of 24 hours.
                                 <all>