STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1326-08

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

 

RE:   S.B. No. 2040

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Health and Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2040, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CANCER SURVEILLANCE,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to advance efforts to improve cancer control by removing the obstacles that impede surveillance of cancer incidence and survival.  Specifically, this bill:

 

     (1)  Allows the Department of Health (DOH) to collect data on the morbidity of cancer in cooperation with the University of Hawaii (UH);

 

     (2)  Adds "biological specimens" to the materials that may be collected to assist in certain cancer research studies;

 

     (3)  Requires hospitals, skilled nursing homes, intermediate care homes, free-standing radiation oncology facilities, and other treatment or pathology facilities to submit a report of individuals admitted with or diagnosed as having pre-cancer to the Hawaii Tumor Registry or participating hospital registry;

 

     (4)  Authorizing the Hawaii Tumor Registry to reveal relevant information from cancer studies to appropriate human subject protection boards; and

 

     (5)  Requires researchers to first obtain approval from a patient for a request of information regarding the patient's condition or treatment for certain research studies.

 

     UH and the Hawaii Medical Association (HMA) testified in support of this bill.  Kaiser Permanente Hawaii offered comments.

 

     Your Committees have amended this bill by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying the purpose language;

 

     (2)  Allowing all data collected by the agency cooperating with DOH in the collection of morbidity data to be shared with DOH in the form specified by DOH;

 

     (3)  Adding to the list of uses for morbidity data, an improvement in the reporting of the cause of death on death certificates;

 

     (4)  If a cancer research study has been approved by the appropriate federally authorized human subjects protection board:

 

          (A)  Allowing researchers to use the names of persons or physicians about which statistical material are collected when requesting additional information for research studies;

 

          (B)  Allowing data or material provided to the Hawaii Tumor Registry to be used in the course of the study; and

 

          (C)  Allowing researchers to use the names of cancer research study subjects when requesting additional information for research studies;

 

     (5)  Deleting the requirement that hospitals, skilled nursing homes, intermediate care homes, free-standing radiation oncology facilities, and other treatment or pathology facilities must submit a report of individuals admitted with or diagnosed as having pre-cancer to the Hawaii Tumor Registry or participating hospital registry, and instead simply allowing data or material relating to individuals with pre-cancerous conditions to be provided to the Hawaii Tumor Registry;

 

     (6)  Deleting the requirement that researchers first obtain approval from the patient's attending physician for a request for additional information regarding the patient's condition or treatment for certain research studies, when the request is made directly from a patient;

 

     (7)  Changing its effective date to upon its approval; and

 

     (8)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Higher Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2040, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2040, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Higher Education,

 

 

____________________________

JERRY L. CHANG, Chair

 

____________________________

JOSHUA B. GREEN, M.D., Chair