Virginia Code 8.01-581.19:1: Civil immunity for persons providing information to certain committees.
Any person who provides information to any committee, board, group, commission, or other entity which is authorized to investigate any complaint of physical or mental impairment, that may show that any practitioner of medicine, osteopathy, optometry, chiropractic, podiatry, clinical psychology, physical therapy, veterinary medicine or any physical therapist assistant is unable to practice his profession with reasonable skill and safety, by reason of the use of alcohol, drugs, or other substances, or as a result of any mental or physical condition, shall be immune from civil liability for any act done for, or any utterance or communication made to, such entity in the course of providing such information. However, this section shall not apply if the act, utterance, or communication is done or made in bad faith or with malicious intent or if such disclosure is prohibited by federal law or regulations promulgated thereunder.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 8.01-581.19:1
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Health care: means any act, professional services in nursing homes, or treatment performed or furnished, or which should have been performed or furnished, by any health care provider for, to, or on behalf of a patient during the patient's medical diagnosis, care, treatment or confinement. See Virginia Code 8.01-581.1
- Person: shall include individuals, a trust, an estate, a partnership, an association, an order, a corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity;
6. See Virginia Code 8.01-2
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
The provisions of this section shall apply only to such entities described in this section as are (i) established pursuant to a federal or state law, (ii) established and duly constituted by one or more public or licensed private hospitals, (iii) a medical or chiropractic society that is operating its health care provider impairment program in cooperation with the Board of Medicine, or another governmental agency, (iv) an optometric society or association that is operating its optometric impairment program in cooperation with the Virginia Board of Optometry, (v) a veterinary medical association that is operating its veterinarian impairment program in cooperation with the Virginia Board of Veterinary Medicine, or (vi) a clinical psychology academy that is operating its clinical psychology impairment program in cooperation with the Board of Psychology.
1986, c. 604; 1987, c. 713; 1989, c. 729; 1993, c. 702; 1996, cc. 937, 980.