141-C:27 Ethics Oversight Advisory Committee. –
I. There is hereby established an ethics oversight advisory committee to offer advice to the commissioner relative to the ethical issues that may be identified in the course of planning for, and responding to, outbreaks of communicable disease that threaten to become epidemic or pandemic and to review and provide recommendations for investigations, orders, and treatment ordered by the commissioner.
II. The committee shall:
(a) Consider the ethical implications of any of the powers that may be exercised by the commissioner under the provisions of this chapter including, but not limited to, the confiscation, distribution, and rationing of anti-toxins, serums, vaccines, immunizing agents, antibiotics, and other pharmaceutical agents, and mechanical equipment; the issuance and enforcement of orders of isolation, quarantine, medical examination, and medical treatment; issues relative to information sharing and confidentiality; and the provisions for due process for orders issued pursuant to this chapter.
(b) Review, at least annually, a report of investigations conducted pursuant to RSA 141-C:9 and orders issued under RSA 21-P:53, V and VI, and provide recommendations to the department. Any information furnished to the committee shall be aggregated and de-identified. The department shall not share any confidential information with the committee.
(c) Consider the competing rights of disabled persons who might be unable to comply with certain orders, health care workers who are entitled to a safe workplace, and the need to protect the public from communicable disease, and may recommend modification of orders to address specific concerns.
(d) Consider both the need to protect the most vulnerable members of society as well as the need for the most efficacious means to control a public health emergency when consulting with the commissioner pursuant to RSA 21-P:53, III-b in developing a plan for the distribution of a new treatment or vaccination.
III. The members of the committee shall be as follows:
(a) Two members of the house of representatives, one of whom shall be from the minority party, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives. The speaker shall give preference to those members who have been trained in ethics.
(b) One member of the senate, appointed by the senate president. The senate president shall give preference to a member who has been trained in ethics.
(c) The commissioner of the department of health and human services, or designee.
(d) The director of the department of health and human services, division of public health services.
(e) The state epidemiologist.
(f) An attorney well-versed in medical ethics, appointed by the president of the New Hampshire Bar Association.
(g) A physician well-versed in medical ethics, appointed by the president of the New Hampshire Medical Society.
(h) The executive director of the governor's commission on disability, or designee.
(i) A nurse well-versed in medical ethics, appointed by the president of the New Hampshire Board of Nursing.
(j) A psychologist well-versed in ethics, appointed by the president of the New Hampshire Psychological Association.
(k) A professor of ethics currently teaching at a college or university in New Hampshire, appointed by the chairperson elected in paragraph IV.
IV. The committee shall elect one of the legislative members as chairperson. Legislative members of the committee shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the committee. The committee shall meet initially within 90 days of the effective date of this section and then as regularly as the chairperson shall direct, but no less than annually.
V. The commissioner may at any time direct questions to the committee or request guidance on ethical issues.
VI. The committee may provide advisory opinions, including draft guidance, guidelines, or protocols, which shall be submitted to the commissioner of the department of health and human services and to the health and human services oversight committee established in RSA 126-A:13 and shall not be binding on the commissioner or any member of the public.
Source. 2008, 336:4, eff. July 7, 2008. 2021, 211:2, eff. Aug. 11, 2021. 2022, 57:1, 2, eff. July 19, 2022; 323:18, eff. Sept. 6, 2022.