Strengthens protections for patients regarding sexual misconduct by medical providers

Where it stands

Passed one of the two chambers; it still needs the other.

Health · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Health · New York State Senate.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

Section 1 amends subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 10 of section 230 of the Public Health Law (PHL), as it relates to the consul- tation of medical experts during an investigation that is referred to an investigation committee due to issues of clinical practice, to require medical experts used during Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) investigations to disclose any conflicts of interest prior to assisting in an investigation and a medical expert shall not be allowed to consult if they're under investigation, or have an administrative warning. Section 2 amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 10 of section 230 of PHL, as it relates to the investigation procedures, to require that at the conclusion of an investigation by an OPMC investigator, an objective summary statement and recommendation produced by the investigator would be submitted along with the results of such investigation. Section 3 amends section 230 of PHL by adding a new subdivision 6-a, as it relates to the adoption and publishing of a "Zero Tolerance Policy" for sexual misconduct by the Board of Professional Medical Conduct and OPMC. This would require the OPMC to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for sexual misconduct and for the board to publish the policy on their site and conduct annual training or in-service workshops on sexual misconduct and sexual harassment for the OPMC staff, including investigators, the division of legal affairs, and the OPMC board members. Section 4 amends PHL by adding a new section 2803-bb, as it relates to adding rights and responsibilities regarding protection from sexual misconduct, to require facilities including clinics and hospitals to post a statement of rights that outlines that every patient shall have the right to request the presence of a family member or third-party chaperone, that can be a healthcare professional or a trained unlicensed staff member of preferably the gender the patient feels most comfortable with, during a physical examination. This legislation also requires that every patient would receive a copy of the written statement of their rights during certain sensitive examinations and requires each facility to note in the patient's chart whether or not the patient wanted the presence of another person during an examination. Section 5 amends section 6530 of the Education Law by adding two new subdivisions 51 and 52, as they relate to the definitions of profes- sional misconduct for sexual impropriety and physical sexual contact between a licensee and patient or an examination of the breast(s) or genitals without appropriate consent from the patient or surrogate. Section 6 amends the Education Law by adding a new section 6523-a as it relates to additional duties of the state board of medicine, to require the board to query information from the United States Department of Health and Human Services national practitioner data bank to see if instances of professional misconduct appear upon initial request for licensure by an applicant. Section 7 amends section 6524 of Education Law by adding a new subdivi- sion 6-a as it relates to fingerprints and criminal history record checks to require the Commissioner of Health (COH) to submit finger- prints to the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and would direct DCJS to forward any criminal history record to the COH in a time- ly manner. Section 8 amends section 6530 of the Education Law to add two new subdi- visions 20 and 31 as they relate to clarifying conduct which evidences moral unfitness to practice medicine and include a patient's caregiver or surrogate in the definition of wilfully harassing, abusing, or intim- idating a patient physically or verbally. Section 9 provides an effective date. JUSTIFICATION:: In 1996, the Board for Professional Medical Conduct created a Final Report produced by a Subcommittee on Physician Sexual Misconduct. Years later, in 2009, the Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) staff investigators reference

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

• Vote: Floor vote

  NY SenateMar 9, 2026Result: passed

  Voted yes (60)Voted no (0)Voted present (0)Absent (3)

  See member positions for the vote on Mar 9, 2026 (Floor vote)

• Vote: Committee vote · Health

  Senate HealthFeb 24, 2026Result: passed

  Voted yes (13)Voted no (0)Voted present (0)Absent (2)

  See member positions for the vote on Feb 24, 2026 (Committee vote · Health)

• Vote: Floor vote

  NY SenateApr 1, 2025Result: passed

  Voted yes (63)Voted no (0)Voted present (0)Absent (0)

  See member positions for the vote on Apr 1, 2025 (Floor vote)

• Vote: Committee vote · Health

  Senate HealthFeb 12, 2025Result: passed

  Voted yes (15)Voted no (0)Voted present (0)Absent (0)

  See member positions for the vote on Feb 12, 2025 (Committee vote · Health)

Full history

1. Mar 9, 2026

   Sent to the executive

   DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY

   NY Senate

2. Mar 9, 2026

   Passed a chamber

   PASSED SENATE

   NY Senate

3. Mar 9, 2026

   Referred to committee

   REFERRED TO HEALTH

   NY Assembly

4. Feb 26, 2026

   Advanced to Third Reading

   ADVANCED TO THIRD READING

   NY Senate

5. Feb 25, 2026

   2ND Report CAL.

   2ND REPORT CAL.

   NY Senate

About this record

Summary

The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.

Cosponsors

The list shows the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

Party colors

Parties are shown in the same neutral colors.

Source

From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Nov 3, 2026. About our data

Read the record

• Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.