West Virginia Code 61-12A-4 – Confidentiality
(a) Proceedings, records, and opinions of the Fatality and Mortality Review Team and the advisory panels established by the team pursuant to this article are confidential and are not subject to discovery, subpoena, or introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding. This section does not limit or restrict the right to discover or use in any civil or criminal proceeding anything that is available from another credible source and entirely independent of the proceedings of the team or advisory panels.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 61-12A-4
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
(b) Members of the Fatality and Mortality Review Team and members of the advisory panels established by the team may not be questioned in any civil or criminal proceeding regarding information presented in or opinions formed as a result of a meeting of the team. This subsection does not prevent a member of the team or an advisory panel from testifying to information obtained independently of the team or advisory panel which is public information.
(c) Proceedings, records, and opinions of the Fatality and Mortality Review Team and the advisory panels established by the team are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act as provided in chapter 29B of this code.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions to the contrary, the Fatality and Mortality Review Team may prepare a data compilation to be shared, on an annual basis or more often as needed, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study maternal mortality in an effort to reduce mortality rates. No individually identifiable records may be produced.