7515
. (a) A decision of the chief medical officer made pursuant to
Section 7511, 7512, or 7516 may be appealed, within three calendar
days of receipt of the decision, to a three-person panel, either by
the person required to be tested, his or her parent or guardian when
the subject is a minor, the law enforcement employee filing a report
pursuant to either Section 7510 or 7516, or the person requesting
testing pursuant to Section 7512, whichever is applicable, or the
chief medical officer, upon his or her own motion. If no request for
appeal is filed under this subdivision, the chief medical officer's
decision shall be final.
(b) Depending upon which entity has jurisdiction over the person
requesting or appealing a test, the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, the Division of Juvenile Justice, the county, the
city, or the county and city shall convene the appeal panel and shall
ensure that the appeal is heard within seven calendar days.
(c) A panel required pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) shall
consist of three members, as follows:
(1) The chief medical officer making the original decision.
(2) A physician and surgeon who has knowledge in the diagnosis,
treatment, and transmission of HIV or hepatitis B and C, selected by
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Division of
Juvenile Justice, the county, the city, or the county and city. The
physician and surgeon appointed pursuant to this paragraph shall
preside at the hearing and serve as chairperson.
(3) A physician and surgeon not on the staff of, or under contract
with, a state, county, city, or county and city correctional
institution or with an employer of a law enforcement employee as
defined in subdivision (b) of Section 7502, and who has knowledge of
the diagnosis, treatment, and transmission of HIV or hepatitis B and
C. The physician and surgeon appointed pursuant to this paragraph
shall be selected by the State Department of Health Services from a
list of persons to be compiled by that department. The State
Department of Health Services shall adopt standards for selecting
persons for the list required by this paragraph, as well as for their
reimbursement, and shall, to the extent possible, utilize its normal
process for selecting consultants in compiling this list.
The Legislature finds and declares that the presence of a
physician and surgeon on the panel who is selected by the State
Department of Health Services enhances the objectivity of the panel,
and it is the intent of the Legislature that the State Department of
Health Services make every attempt to comply with this subdivision.
(d) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the county,
the city, or the county and city shall notify the Office of AIDS in
the State Department of Health Services when a panel must be convened
under subdivision (a) wherein HIV testing has been requested or the
State Department of Health Services when a test for hepatitis B or C
has been requested. Within two calendar days of the notification, a
physician and surgeon appointed under paragraph (3) of subdivision
(c) shall reach agreement with the Department of Corrections, the
county, the city, or the county and city on a date for the hearing
that complies with subdivision (b).
(e) If the Office of AIDS in the State Department of Health
Services or, in the case of a hepatitis B or C test, the State
Department of Health Services, fails to comply with subdivision (d)
or the physician and surgeon appointed under paragraph (3) of
subdivision (c) fails to attend the scheduled hearing, the Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the county, the city, or the
county and city shall appoint a physician and surgeon who has
knowledge of the diagnosis, treatment, and transmission of HIV and
hepatitis B and C to serve on the appeals panel to replace the
physician and surgeon required under paragraph (3) of subdivision
(c). The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the county,
the city, or the county and city shall have standards for selecting
persons under this subdivision and for their reimbursement.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Division of
Juvenile Justice, the county, the city, or the county and city shall,
whenever feasible, create, and utilize ongoing panels to hear
appeals under this section. The membership of the panel shall meet
the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (c).
No panel shall be created pursuant to this paragraph by a county,
city, or county and city correctional institution except with the
prior approval of the local health officer.
(f) A hearing conducted pursuant to this section shall be closed,
except that each of the following persons shall have the right to
attend the hearing, speak on the issues presented at the hearing, and
call witnesses to testify at the hearing:
(1) The chief medical officer, who may also bring staff essential
to the hearing, as well as the other two members of the panel.
(2) The subject of the chief medical officer's decision, except
that a subject who is a minor may attend only with the consent of his
or her parent or guardian and, if the subject is a minor, his or her
parent or guardian.
(3) The law enforcement employee filing the report pursuant to
Section 7510, or the person requesting HIV or hepatitis B or C
testing pursuant to Section 7512, whichever is applicable and, if the
person is a minor, his or her parent or guardian.
(g) The subject of the test, or the person requesting the test
pursuant to Section 7512, or who filed the report pursuant to Section
7510, whichever is applicable, may appoint a representative to
attend the hearing in order to assist him or her.
(h) When a hearing is sought pursuant to this section, or filed by
a law enforcement employee pursuant to a request made under Section
7510, the decision shall be rendered within two days of the hearing.
A unanimous vote of the panel shall be necessary in order to require
that the subject of the hearing undergo HIV or hepatitis B or C
testing.
The criteria specified in Section 7511 for use by the chief
medical officer shall also be utilized by the panel in making its
decision.
The decision shall be in writing, stating reasons for the
decision, and shall be signed by the members. A copy shall be
provided by the chief medical officer to the person requesting the
test, or filing the report, whichever is applicable, to the subject
of the test, and, when the subject is in a correctional institution,
to the superintendent of the institution, except that, when the
subject of the test or the person upon whose behalf the request for
the test was made is a minor, copies shall also be provided to the
parent or guardian of the minor, unless the parent or guardian cannot
be located.