Section 654.1.

Persons licensed under Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1600) of this division or licensed under Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2000) of this division or licensed under any initiative act referred to in this division relating to osteopaths may not refer patients, clients, or customers to any clinical laboratory licensed under Section 1265 in which the licensee has any membership, proprietary interest, or coownership in any form, or has any profit-sharing arrangement, unless the licensee at the time of making such referral discloses in writing such interest to the patient, client, or customer. The written disclosure shall indicate that the patient may choose any clinical laboratory for purposes of having any laboratory work or assignment performed.

This section shall not apply to persons who are members of a medical group which contracts to provide medical care to members of a group practice prepayment plan registered under the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Act of 1975, Chapter 2.2 (commencing with Section 1340) of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code.

This section shall not apply to any referral to a clinical laboratory which is owned and operated by a health facility licensed pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250) of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code.

This section does not prohibit the acceptance of evaluation specimens for proficiency testing or referral of specimens or such assignment from one clinical laboratory to another clinical laboratory, either licensed or exempt under this chapter, providing the report indicates clearly the laboratory performing the test.

"Proprietary interest" does not include ownership of a building where space is leased to a clinical laboratory at the prevailing rate under a straight lease arrangement.

A violation of this section is a public offense and is punishable upon a first conviction by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. A second or subsequent conviction shall be punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code.

(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 4. Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.)