Bill Text: NY S03758 | 2011-2012 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Expands the definition of the practice of podiatry to include conditions of the ankle and all soft tissue structures of the leg below the knee anatomically affecting the foot and ankle; establishes podiatrists licensed prior to the effective date of this act need to be certified to operate on the ankle; provides for the conducting of office based surgery by podiatrists; directs the department of health to study the feasibility of a podiatrist profiling program; authorizes the calling of a physician as an expert witness in a podiatric medical malpractice cause of action.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-06-12 - referred to higher education [S03758 Detail]

Download: New_York-2011-S03758-Amended.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                        3758--A
                              2011-2012 Regular Sessions
                                   I N  S E N A T E
                                     March 3, 2011
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  Sens. LIBOUS, KLEIN, ADAMS, MAZIARZ, OPPENHEIMER -- read
         twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to  the
         Committee on Higher Education -- recommitted to the Committee on High-
         er  Education  in  accordance  with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee
         discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
         to said committee
       AN ACT to amend the education law, the public health law and  the  civil
         practice law and rules, in relation to the practice of podiatry
         THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section 1. Section 7001 of the education law, as  amended  by  chapter
    2  677 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
    3    S  7001.  Definition  of practice of podiatry. 1.  The practice of the
    4  profession of podiatry is defined as diagnosing, treating, operating and
    5  prescribing for any disease, injury, deformity or other condition of the
    6  foot, [and may include] ANKLE AND ALL SOFT TISSUE STRUCTURES OF THE  LEG
    7  BELOW  THE  DISTAL  TIBIAL  TUBEROCITY.  SURGICAL TREATMENT OF THE ANKLE
    8  SHALL NOT EXTEND BEYOND THE TIBIAL METAPHYSEAL FLAIR; PROVIDED, HOWEVER,
    9  THAT SUCH SURGICAL TREATMENT MAY EXTEND TO THE DISTAL TIBIAL  TUBEROCITY
   10  AS  NECESSARY FOR THE TREATMENT OF THE ANKLE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
   11  TO, THE APPLICATION OF EXTERNAL FIXATION; AND  PROVIDED,  FURTHER,  THAT
   12  SUCH TREATMENT SHALL NOT INCLUDE PILON FRACTURES. THE PRACTICE OF PODIA-
   13  TRY  INCLUDES  performing  physical evaluations in conjunction with [the
   14  provision of] podiatric treatment.  Podiatrists [may] SHALL  ONLY  treat
   15  traumatic open wound fractures [only] AND PROVIDE SURGICAL MANAGEMENT OF
   16  COMPLICATED  FRACTURES  OF  THE  ANKLE in hospitals [, as defined in] OR
   17  AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTERS CERTIFIED PURSUANT TO article twenty-eight of
   18  the public health law.   FOR THE PURPOSES  OF  THIS  ARTICLE,  THE  TERM
   19  "ANKLE"  SHALL  BE DEFINED AS THE DISTAL METAPHYSIS AND EPIPHYSIS OF THE
   20  TIBIA AND FIBULA, THE ARTICULAR CARTILAGE OF THE DISTAL TIBIA AND DISTAL
   21  FIBULA, THE LIGAMENTS THAT CONNECT THE DISTAL METAPHYSIS  AND  EPIPHYSIS
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD02760-04-2
       S. 3758--A                          2
    1  OF  THE TIBIA AND FIBULA AND TALUS, AND THE PORTIONS OF SKIN, SUBCUTANE-
    2  OUS TISSUE, FASCIA, MUSCLES, TENDONS AND NERVES AT OR BELOW THE LEVEL OF
    3  THE MYOTENDINOUS JUNCTION OF THE TRICEPS SURAE.
    4    2.  [The  practice  of podiatry shall not include treating any part of
    5  the human body other than  the  foot,  nor  treating  fractures  of  the
    6  malleoli  or  cutting operations upon the malleoli. Podiatrists licensed
    7  to practice, but not authorized to  prescribe  or  administer  narcotics
    8  prior  to  the  effective date of this subdivision, may do so only after
    9  certification by the department in accordance  with  the  qualifications
   10  established by the commissioner.] The practice of podiatry shall include
   11  administering only local anesthetics for therapeutic purposes as well as
   12  for  anesthesia  and  treatment under general anesthesia administered by
   13  authorized persons.
   14    3. PODIATRISTS LICENSED TO PRACTICE PRIOR TO  THE  EFFECTIVE  DATE  OF
   15  THIS  SUBDIVISION MAY PERFORM SURGICAL TREATMENT OF THE ANKLE ONLY AFTER
   16  CERTIFICATION BY THE DEPARTMENT IN ACCORDANCE  WITH  THE  QUALIFICATIONS
   17  ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER. QUALIFICATIONS TO OPERATE ON THE ANKLE,
   18  PURSUANT  TO THIS SUBDIVISION, SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO: THE
   19  SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF A RESIDENCY PROGRAM OR  PROGRAMS,  APPROVED  BY
   20  THE COUNCIL ON PODIATRIC MEDICAL EDUCATION; OR COMPLETION OF A POST-SEC-
   21  ONDARY  ACCREDITED  EDUCATIONAL  PROGRAM  ACCEPTABLE TO THE COMMISSIONER
   22  WITH DEMONSTRATED COMPETENCY IN THE SURGICAL TREATMENT OF THE REAR  FOOT
   23  AND  ANKLE;  OR CERTIFICATION BY THE AMERICAN BOARD OF PODIATRIC SURGERY
   24  OR A NATIONAL CERTIFYING BOARD HAVING CERTIFICATION STANDARDS ACCEPTABLE
   25  TO THE COMMISSIONER.
   26    S 2. Paragraph (i) of subdivision 1 of section  230-d  of  the  public
   27  health  law,  as added by chapter 365 of the laws of 2007, is amended to
   28  read as follows:
   29    (i) "Licensee" shall mean an individual licensed or otherwise  author-
   30  ized  under  [articles] ARTICLE one hundred thirty-one [or], one hundred
   31  thirty-one-B OR ONE HUNDRED FORTY-ONE of the education law.
   32    S 3. Section 2995-d of the public health law is amended  by  adding  a
   33  new subdivision 4-a to read as follows:
   34    4-A.  IN  COOPERATION WITH THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, STUDY HEALTH CARE
   35  PRACTITIONER DATA RELATING TO  PODIATRISTS.  SUCH  STUDY  SHALL  INCLUDE
   36  CONSIDERATION  OF  WHETHER  AN  INDIVIDUAL  PODIATRIST PROFILING PROGRAM
   37  SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED AND OUTLINE AN APPROPRIATE METHOD TO  DEVELOP  AND
   38  IMPLEMENT  SUCH  A  PROFILING PROGRAM IF SUCH A PROGRAM IS DETERMINED BY
   39  THE DEPARTMENT TO BE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. SUCH PROGRAM AND  RECOMMEN-
   40  DATIONS MAY BE SIMILAR TO THE PHYSICIAN PROFILES ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO
   41  SECTION TWENTY-NINE HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE-A OF THIS TITLE. SUCH A PROPOSED
   42  PODIATRIST  PROFILING  PROGRAM,  IF  SUCH A PROGRAM IS DETERMINED BY THE
   43  DEPARTMENT TO BE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST, SHOULD BE CAPABLE  OF  PRESENT-
   44  ING, IN A COST EFFECTIVE MANNER, RELEVANT MEDICAL AND TREATMENT INFORMA-
   45  TION  IN A FORMAT THAT IS EASILY UNDERSTOOD BY AND MADE AVAILABLE TO THE
   46  GENERAL PUBLIC.  SUCH STUDY AND ITS FINDINGS SHALL BE SUBMITTED  TO  THE
   47  GOVERNOR,  THE  TEMPORARY  PRESIDENT  OF  THE SENATE, THE SPEAKER OF THE
   48  ASSEMBLY, THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE SENATE AND THE MINORITY  LEADER  OF
   49  THE ASSEMBLY ON OR BEFORE JUNE FIRST, TWO THOUSAND EIGHTEEN;
   50    S 4. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (d) of section 3101 of the civil prac-
   51  tice  law and rules is amended by adding a new subparagraph (iv) to read
   52  as follows:
   53    (IV) IN AN ACTION FOR PODIATRIC MEDICAL MALPRACTICE, A  PHYSICIAN  MAY
   54  BE CALLED AS AN EXPERT WITNESS AT TRIAL.
   55    S 5. This act shall take effect 18 months after it shall have become a
   56  law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the addition, amend-
       S. 3758--A                          3
    1  ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
    2  tation  of  the provisions of this act on its effective date are author-
    3  ized and directed to be made and completed on or before  such  effective
    4  date.