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House advances bill creating offense for willful falsification of medical records
Summary
Legislation establishing an offense for knowingly altering or omitting material in medical records to conceal serious injury or death passed the House and will go to the Senate.
The House passed a committee substitute to House Bill 123 on third reading, creating a criminal offense for willfully destroying, altering, falsifying or omitting information in medical records when done to conceal a medical error, abuse, neglect or services that caused serious injury or death.
Representative Glass, debating the bill, said the measure is tailored to intentional concealment and does not target routine mistakes, reporting omissions or regulatory violations. He said the offense is limited to licensed, certified and credentialed health-care providers and described the elements that must be proven for prosecution. Under the statute as described on the floor, the offense would be a Class H felony when the act results in injury and a different misdemeanor threshold applies when the action is for monetary gain.
Members recorded an 88–24 tally on second reading; the committee substitute passed on third reading and was ordered sent to the Senate.
