Media Contact: Michelle.Sherwood@sen.ca.gov

SANGER, CA – Today, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) released the following statement after she made the decision to pull Senate Bill 920:

“I have been working endlessly for accountability of doctors who have been disciplined in the past to prevent them from committing further harm against patients,” said Senator Hurtado. “I want to be clear—SB 920 is not a COVID-19 bill. It is a bill that aims to deliver justice for patients who have been harmed, in a timely manner. More time is needed to educate people, and for this reason I am pulling SB 920.”

The Medical Board of California, created in 1876, is a state agency which licenses and disciplines medical doctors. The Board is made up of eight physicians, and seven public members, appointed by the Governor, with one member of the public being appointed by the Senate Rules Committee, and one member of the public being appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. The Board also provides public-record information regarding physicians licensed in California, as well as investigation of complaints against physicians.

The Medical Board of California is limited in its ability to inspect and review a licensee’s medical records in response to a complaint, often times slowing down the investigative process. Existing law allows a complainant the opportunity to provide a statement to the Deputy Attorney from the Health Quality Enforcement Section, but does not allow for considerations of adjudication of the case. This prevents the adjudication panel of the Medical Board from accessing all relevant information.

SB 920—The Patient Transparency and Protection Act—would have removed the barriers that delay and prevent the Board from investigating complaints into licensed California physicians, elevating consideration of complainant statements from patients and enhancing the Board’s authority to inspect records.  SB 920 would also have created a timeline for requests from the Medical Board to pharmacists to be returned, that mirrors the requirements of them from the California State Board of Pharmacy.

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents a new generation of Latina leaders as the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate and a product of immigrant parents. Senator Hurtado represents the 14th Senate District and focuses on rural community issues that often go unheard — access to clean air and water, food insecurity and poverty, inequities in environmental policies, agriculture and access to health care. In July 2020, she was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee alongside former Labor Secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis – the only two California Latinas on the Committee.

For more information, visit Senator Hurtado’s Website here or find her on Twitter at @Senator_Hurtado

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