Wednesday, February 6, 2002
Citizens’ Council on Health Care
1954 University Ave. W., Suite 8
St. Paul, MN 55104
CONTACT:Twila Brase, R.N., President
PHONE: 651-646-8935
CCHC Closed Meeting Provision Attached to
Anti-Terrorism Bill
St. Paul, Minnesota- Closed meetings on security and
emergency response procedures should not include discussions and decisions about
medical procedures that impact the physical bodies of citizens, says Citizens’
Council on Health Care (CCHC). The
Civil Law Committee agreed. The amendment proposed by CCHC, and approved by the
bill’s author, was attached to the Minnesota House anti-terrorism bill (HF
2746).
“We wanted to secure the right of citizens to be a part of
any discussion about mandatory treatment, vaccination, surveillance and quarantine,”
says Twila Brase, president of CCHC Brase notes that these mandates are part of
the proposed Minnesota Health Powers Act, authored by Rep. Tom Huntley
(D-Duluth). The Minnesota Act was written following the federal proposal
published in October by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal
Model Emergency State Health Powers Act. The Act places public health officials
in control of personal property, medical services, and persons if the Governor
declares a public health emergency. Control of persons includes mandatory medical
treatment, medical testing, specimen collection, vaccinations, and placement in
quarantine or isolation.
In addition, both state and federal versions of the Act
would implement ongoing health surveillance systems requiring health care practitioners,
health care facilities, and pharmacists to report patients and symptoms to the
state health department any time a person was suspected of harboring an illness
or condition considered a threat to the public’s health.
The CCHC amendment prohibits state officials from closing
meetings to the public when such activities are to be discussed.
THE AMENDMENT: The words proposed by CCHC were: “unrelated
to medical treatment, vaccination, medical testing, health surveillance, isolation,
or quarantine of individuals.”
Once amended, the sentence in the bill read as follows:
“Meetings may be closed to receive security briefings and
reports and to discuss issues related to security systems, emergency response procedures
unrelated to medical treatment, vaccination, medical testing, health
surveillance, isolation, or quarantine of individuals and security deficiencies
in public services, infrastructure and facilities, if disclosure of the
information discussed would pose a clear danger to public safety.”
CCHC is an independent non-profit health care policy
organization
located in St. Paul, Minnesota
A
free-market resource for designing the future of health care
Citizens’ Council on Health Care
1954 University Ave.W., Suite 8
St. Paul, MN 55104
651-646-8935 phone
651-646-0100 fax
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Thank you.
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ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.