S-1584

AN ACT Relating to informed consent in the use of DNA; and adding a new chapter to Title 7 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) Any entity, including any person, isolating a person's deoxyribonucleic acid in a form that identifies an individual person for purposes of genetic testing must have the person's informed consent.

(2) Informed consent requires:

(a) An explanation of the purpose for which the deoxyribonucleic acid is being obtained, and whether it will be converted into a computerized individual sequence of chemical base pairs or other form for interpretation;

(b) Identification of the entity obtaining the deoxyribonucleic acid and individual sequence;

(c) Disclosure of any entity with whom the deoxyribonucleic acid and individual sequence may be shared, including disclosure that the deoxyribonucleic acid or individual sequence may be shared in the future with an unknown entity;

(d) A statement of the expected duration that the deoxyribonucleic acid and individual sequence may be kept;

(e) A description of reasonably foreseeable risks or harm associated with providing the deoxyribonucleic acid and individual sequence;

(f) An explanation of how the deoxyribonucleic acid will be maintained, whether the physical sample will be destroyed or stored, including how and where it will be stored, and how the individual sequence information will be destroyed or stored, including how and where it will be stored;

(g) A statement describing any reasonably expected benefits or advantages associated with providing the deoxyribonucleic acid and individual sequence;

(h) A statement describing any confidentiality or privacy protections for the deoxyribonucleic acid and individual sequence;

(i) Identification of an individual contact and contact information from whom further information may be obtained or reported relative to the deoxyribonucleic acid and individual sequence;

(j) Provisions explaining whether the deoxyribonucleic acid and the individual sequence can be expunged or removed from the entity that obtained it and the method to do it;

(k) The exclusion of any exculpatory provisions from liability against the entity obtaining the deoxyribonucleic acid and individual sequence; and

(l) A disclosure that providing deoxyribonucleic acid and an individual sequence is voluntary.

(3) A person's informed consent is not required:

(a) In criminal matters if the deoxyribonucleic acid is obtained or used during a criminal investigation, trial, appeal, or pursuant to specific common law or statutory authority, or a lawfully issued court order. Once a criminal conviction is final, a report that was not admitted into evidence, identifying a specific person by analysis of DNA obtained in the course of an investigation, shall be destroyed if the person is found to be uninvolved in the commission of the criminal act or acts;

(b) In situations where the person requires emergency medical care as long as the person, or his or her representative in death cases, is informed in a timely manner after the emergency that the deoxyribonucleic acid was obtained;

(c) In situations where a person's bodily fluids are obtained without consent pursuant to specific statutory requirement mandating testing;

(d) In situations where the individual is deceased and the entity requesting the deoxyribonucleic acid establishes in a court of law that obtaining individually identifiable deoxyribonucleic acid for genetic testing purposes benefits public health, safety, and welfare, and outweighs the harm to individual privacy interests, or the person requesting the deoxyribonucleic acid is a next of kin requesting the deoxyribonucleic acid for purposes of health care or other purpose that outweighs the harm to the individual's privacy interests, or the entity requesting the deoxyribonucleic acid has been authorized by an institutional review board to use the deoxyribonucleic acid pursuant to an approved protocol;

(e) Pursuant to the provisions of this section, if the entity or person is a health care provider or facility under chapter 70.02 RCW or the federal health insurance portability and accountability act privacy rules who is acting according to the provisions of that chapter or federal law, and who is subject to the provisions of chapter 7.70 RCW and the federal health insurance portability and accountability act privacy rules;

(f) Pursuant to provisions of this section, if the entity or person obtains an individual's deoxyribonucleic acid, or computerized information that provides the sequence of that individual's deoxyribonucleic acid, in a form that does not identify that individual or there is no reasonable basis to believe the information can be used to identify an individual;

(g) Pursuant to provisions of this section, if the entity or person who obtains deoxyribonucleic acid, or computerized information that provides the sequence of that deoxyribonucleic acid, is acting according to the provisions of an institutional review board established under federal law;

(h) In death investigations for purposes of identifying the decedent;

(i) In matters of parentage proceedings under chapter 26.26 RCW. A DNA specimen or report of an individual's specimen shall not be released or disclosed for any purpose other than is relevant to the parentage proceeding without a court order or informed consent of the individual who furnished the specimen; and

(j) Where the division of child support has issued an order for genetic testing pursuant to RCW 74.20.360. A DNA specimen or report of an individual's specimen shall not be released or disclosed for any purpose not relevant to the division of child support's order without a court order or the informed consent of the individual who furnished the specimen.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Section 1 of this act constitutes a new chapter in Title 7 RCW.