Section 7515.

(a) A decision of the chief medical officer made pursuant to Section 7511, 7512, or 7516 may be appealed, within three calendar days of receipt of the decision, to a three-person panel, either by the person required to be tested, his or her parent or guardian when the subject is a minor, the law enforcement employee filing a report pursuant to either Section 7510 or 7516, or the person requesting testing pursuant to Section 7512, whichever is applicable, or the chief medical officer, upon his or her own motion. If no request for appeal is filed under this subdivision, the chief medical officer's decision shall be final.

(b) Depending upon which entity has jurisdiction over the person requesting or appealing a test, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Division of Juvenile Justice, the county, the city, or the county and city shall convene the appeal panel and shall ensure that the appeal is heard within seven calendar days.

(c) A panel required pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) shall consist of three members, as follows:

(1) The chief medical officer making the original decision.

(2) A physician and surgeon who has knowledge in the diagnosis, treatment, and transmission of HIV or hepatitis B and C, selected by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Division of Juvenile Justice, the county, the city, or the county and city. The physician and surgeon appointed pursuant to this paragraph shall preside at the hearing and serve as chairperson.

(3) A physician and surgeon not on the staff of, or under contract with, a state, county, city, or county and city correctional institution or with an employer of a law enforcement employee as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 7502, and who has knowledge of the diagnosis, treatment, and transmission of HIV or hepatitis B and C. The physician and surgeon appointed pursuant to this paragraph shall be selected by the State Department of Health Services from a list of persons to be compiled by that department. The State Department of Health Services shall adopt standards for selecting persons for the list required by this paragraph, as well as for their reimbursement, and shall, to the extent possible, utilize its normal process for selecting consultants in compiling this list.

The Legislature finds and declares that the presence of a physician and surgeon on the panel who is selected by the State Department of Health Services enhances the objectivity of the panel, and it is the intent of the Legislature that the State Department of Health Services make every attempt to comply with this subdivision.

(d) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the county, the city, or the county and city shall notify the Office of AIDS in the State Department of Health Services when a panel must be convened under subdivision (a) wherein HIV testing has been requested or the State Department of Health Services when a test for hepatitis B or C has been requested. Within two calendar days of the notification, a physician and surgeon appointed under paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) shall reach agreement with the Department of Corrections, the county, the city, or the county and city on a date for the hearing that complies with subdivision (b).

(e) If the Office of AIDS in the State Department of Health Services or, in the case of a hepatitis B or C test, the State Department of Health Services, fails to comply with subdivision (d) or the physician and surgeon appointed under paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) fails to attend the scheduled hearing, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the county, the city, or the county and city shall appoint a physician and surgeon who has knowledge of the diagnosis, treatment, and transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C to serve on the appeals panel to replace the physician and surgeon required under paragraph (3) of subdivision (c). The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the county, the city, or the county and city shall have standards for selecting persons under this subdivision and for their reimbursement.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Division of Juvenile Justice, the county, the city, or the county and city shall, whenever feasible, create, and utilize ongoing panels to hear appeals under this section. The membership of the panel shall meet the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (c).

No panel shall be created pursuant to this paragraph by a county, city, or county and city correctional institution except with the prior approval of the local health officer.

(f) A hearing conducted pursuant to this section shall be closed, except that each of the following persons shall have the right to attend the hearing, speak on the issues presented at the hearing, and call witnesses to testify at the hearing:

(1) The chief medical officer, who may also bring staff essential to the hearing, as well as the other two members of the panel.

(2) The subject of the chief medical officer's decision, except that a subject who is a minor may attend only with the consent of his or her parent or guardian and, if the subject is a minor, his or her parent or guardian.

(3) The law enforcement employee filing the report pursuant to Section 7510, or the person requesting HIV or hepatitis B or C testing pursuant to Section 7512, whichever is applicable and, if the person is a minor, his or her parent or guardian.

(g) The subject of the test, or the person requesting the test pursuant to Section 7512, or who filed the report pursuant to Section 7510, whichever is applicable, may appoint a representative to attend the hearing in order to assist him or her.

(h) When a hearing is sought pursuant to this section, or filed by a law enforcement employee pursuant to a request made under Section 7510, the decision shall be rendered within two days of the hearing. A unanimous vote of the panel shall be necessary in order to require that the subject of the hearing undergo HIV or hepatitis B or C testing.

The criteria specified in Section 7511 for use by the chief medical officer shall also be utilized by the panel in making its decision.

The decision shall be in writing, stating reasons for the decision, and shall be signed by the members. A copy shall be provided by the chief medical officer to the person requesting the test, or filing the report, whichever is applicable, to the subject of the test, and, when the subject is in a correctional institution, to the superintendent of the institution, except that, when the subject of the test or the person upon whose behalf the request for the test was made is a minor, copies shall also be provided to the parent or guardian of the minor, unless the parent or guardian cannot be located.

(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 800, Sec. 10. Effective January 1, 2007.)