The bill amends Section 23-4-3 of the General Laws, expanding the responsibilities of the Office of State Medical Examiners in Rhode Island. It introduces the creation of multidisciplinary teams to review child fatalities and drug-related overdose deaths, aiming to reduce preventable deaths and identify intervention strategies. These teams will comprise representatives from state agencies, healthcare, child welfare, law enforcement, and other relevant sectors. The bill also mandates the confidentiality of the work product of these teams, ensuring that the information gathered is not subject to subpoena, discovery, or introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding, and is to be kept confidential except as aggregate de-identified information. Additionally, the bill calls for the establishment of a maternal mortality review committee to review maternal deaths and develop prevention recommendations, with its work product also being kept confidential.

Furthermore, the bill proposes the creation of an adult suicide fatality review team to analyze suicide trends and develop prevention strategies. This team may include representatives from various departments and agencies, as determined by the director of the Rhode Island Department of Health. The team's work product will be confidential and protected under applicable laws, including the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the Rhode Island confidentiality of health care communications and information act. It will also be exempt from public records access and deemed privileged, not subject to legal disclosure. The team is tasked with developing annual recommendations for the state suicide prevention coalition and/or state agencies responsible for suicide prevention, in line with the Rhode Island suicide prevention state plan. The act will take effect upon passage.

Statutes affected:
2817: 23-4-3