AN ACT RELATIVE TO ADJUDICATORY HEARINGS OF THE BOARD OF REGISTRATION IN MEDICINE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Section 5 of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following 3 paragraphs:-
Notwithstanding section 11A of chapter 30A, the victim or his representative shall be entitled to attend all meetings of the board convened for the purpose of making a decision required in an adjudicatory proceeding, or for the purpose of reviewing a proposed consent order presented by the parties, concerning that victim's alleged injuries, at which the licensee or board complaint counsel are present. The victim or his representative shall be further entitled to have counsel of his own choosing present at the meeting for the purpose of advisement. The counsel shall not be permitted to participate actively in the proceeding. This paragraph shall not entitle an individual to the appointment of public or private counsel at the expense of the commonwealth.
Upon final consideration of a disciplinary matter before the board, and before the board's vote on final disposition, the board shall provide the victim or his representative an opportunity to be heard through an oral or written victim impact statement, at the victim's or his representative's option, about the impact of the injury on the victim and his family and on a recommended sanction. For purposes of this paragraph and the preceding paragraph, representatives of the victim shall include his family members and such other affected parties as might be so designated by the board's complaint counsel upon request.
If the respondent physician is present for any portion of the board's meeting upon the final consideration of a disciplinary matter, the victim or his representative shall have the opportunity to make an oral victim impact statement in the presence of the physician. If the respondent physician is absent from the board's meeting upon the final consideration of a disciplinary matter for a reason acknowledged by the board to be legitimate, the victim's or his representative's impact statement shall be communicated to the defendant physician in writing and the physician shall certify to the board that he has received and read it. The board shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the victim has the opportunity to make any oral impact statement in the presence of the physician.