HB 1487 2023
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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to public health emergency actions; 2
providing a short title; amending s. 381.00315, F.S.; 3
revising and providing definitions; requiring the 4
State Health Officer to obtain consent from the 5
Governor and the Legislature before the declaration or 6
continuation of a public health emergency; providing 7
requirements for the renewal of such declaration; 8
authorizing the State Health Officer to take certain 9
actions during a public health emergency; authorizing 10
the State Health Officer to request rather than order 11
an individual to be examined, tested, treated, 12
isolated, or quarantined for certain communicable 13
diseases; providing requirements for isolation or 14
quarantine; requiring a judicial review for the State 15
Health Officer to request an individual to b e 16
examined, treated, isolated, or quarantined for 17
certain communicable diseases; prohibiting certain 18
closures or adjustments of election procedures and 19
protocols; requiring a two -thirds vote of the 20
membership of both houses of the Legislature to allow 21
actions that affect entire groups or communities; 22
revising procedures for imposing and releasing an 23
isolation or quarantine; amending s. 381.003, F.S.; 24
revising requirements of the communicable disease 25
HB 1487 2023
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prevention and control program; requiring written 26
consent of participating individuals or their legal 27
guardians for any medical care offered or provided 28
through such program; providing an effective date. 29
30
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 31
32
Section 1. This act may be cited as the "M edical Emergency 33
Requirement for Clear and Convincing Information and Evidence 34
(MERCCIE) Act." 35
Section 2. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1), 36
paragraphs (b) and (d) of subsection (2), subsection (4), and 37
paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (5) o f section 381.00315, 38
Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph (e) is added to 39
subsection (1) of that section, to read: 40
381.00315 Public health advisories; public health 41
emergencies; isolation and quarantines. —The State Health Officer 42
is responsible for declaring public health emergencies, issuing 43
public health advisories, and ordering isolation or quarantines. 44
(1) As used in this section, the term: 45
(a) "Isolation" means the separation of an individual who 46
is reasonably believed beyond a reasonable doubt to be infected 47
with a communicable disease from individuals who are not 48
infected, to prevent the possible spread of the disease. 49
(b) "Public health advisory" means any warning or report 50
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giving information to the public about a potential public hea lth 51
threat. Before issuing any public health advisory, the State 52
Health Officer must consult with any state or local agency 53
regarding areas of responsibility which may be affected by such 54
advisory. Upon determining that issuing a public health advisory 55
is necessary to protect the public health and safety, and prior 56
to issuing the advisory, the State Health Officer must notify 57
each county health department within the area which is affected 58
by the advisory of the State Health Officer's intent to issue 59
the advisory. The State Health Officer is authorized to take any 60
action that is legal and appropriate to enforce any public 61
health advisory. 62
(e) The term "treat," "treated," or "treatment" does not 63
include administration of vaccinations. 64
(2) 65
(b) Before declaring a public health emergency, the State 66
Health Officer must obtain the consent of shall, to the extent 67
possible, consult with the Governor, the President of the 68
Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and 69
shall notify the Chief of Domesti c Security. The declaration of 70
a public health emergency shall continue until the State Health 71
Officer, the Governor, the Senate President, or the Speaker of 72
the House of Representatives notifies the Chief of Domestic 73
Security that they have determined finds that the threat or 74
danger has been dealt with to the extent that the emergency 75
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conditions no longer exist and wish to remove consent to the 76
continuation of the emergency and terminate he or she terminates 77
the declaration. However, A declaration of a pub lic health 78
emergency will automatically expire may not continue for longer 79
than 60 days after the declaration unless the Governor files in 80
writing a concurs in the renewal of the declaration. A renewal 81
declaration by the Governor will be valid for 30 days after 82
which the Governor may file additional renewal declarations in 83
writing. Each subsequent renewal declaration will extend the 84
termination of the emergency an additional 30 days after the 85
date of the last renewal declaration. The declaration of a 86
public health emergency will automatically expire if the 87
Governor does not timely file a renewal declaration. 88
(d) The State Health Officer, during upon declaration of a 89
public health emergency, may take actions that are necessary to 90
protect the public health. Such actions include, but are not 91
limited to: 92
1. Directing manufacturers of prescription drugs or over -93
the-counter drugs who are permitted under chapter 499 and 94
wholesalers of prescription drugs located in this state who are 95
permitted under chapter 499 t o give priority to the shipping of 96
specified drugs to pharmacies and health care providers within 97
geographic areas identified by the State Health Officer. The 98
State Health Officer must identify the drugs to be shipped. 99
Manufacturers and wholesalers located in the state must respond 100
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to the State Health Officer's priority shipping directive before 101
shipping the specified drugs. 102
2. Notwithstanding chapters 465 and 499 and rules adopted 103
thereunder, directing pharmacists employed by the department to 104
compound bulk prescription drugs and provide these bulk 105
prescription drugs to physicians and nurses of county health 106
departments or any qualified person authorized by the State 107
Health Officer for administration to persons as part of a 108
prophylactic or treatment regim en. 109
3. Notwithstanding s. 456.036, temporarily reactivating 110
the inactive license of the following health care providers 111
practitioners, when such providers practitioners are needed to 112
respond to the public health emergency: physicians licensed 113
under chapter 458 or chapter 459; physician assistants licensed 114
under chapter 458 or chapter 459; licensed practical nurses, 115
registered nurses, and advanced practice registered nurses 116
licensed under part I of chapter 464; respiratory therapists 117
licensed under part V of chapter 468; and emergency medical 118
technicians and paramedics certified under part III of chapter 119
401. Only those health care practitioners specified in this 120
paragraph who possess an unencumbered inactive license and who 121
request that such license be rea ctivated are eligible for 122
reactivation. An inactive license that is reactivated under this 123
paragraph shall return to inactive status when the public health 124
emergency ends or before the end of the public health emergency 125
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if the State Health Officer determin es that the health care 126
provider practitioner is no longer needed to provide services 127
during the public health emergency. Such licenses may only be 128
reactivated for a period not to exceed 90 days without meeting 129
the requirements of s. 456.036 or chapter 401 , as applicable. 130
4. Requesting Ordering an individual to be examined, 131
tested, treated, isolated, or quarantined for communicable 132
diseases that have significant morbidity or mortality and 133
present a severe danger to public health. Individuals who are 134
unable or unwilling to be examined, tested, or treated for 135
reasons of health, religion, or conscience may be subjected to 136
isolation or quarantine. 137
a. Examination, testing, or treatment may be performed by 138
any qualified person authorized by the State Health Officer. 139
b. If isolation or quarantine is permitted by this section 140
to protect public health, such isolation or quarantine shall be 141
carried out by the least restrictive means that protects the 142
liberty, safety, and comfort of the individual and that 143
minimizes the cost of such isolation and quarant ine the 144
individual poses a danger to the public health, the State Health 145
Officer may subject the individual to isolation or quarantine. 146
If there is no practical method to isolate or quarantine the 147
individual, the State Health Officer may use any means nece ssary 148
to treat the individual . 149
c. An individual subject to a request under this section 150
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may request judicial review of such request with the burden on 151
the state to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that such actions 152
are necessary for public health and will benefit public health. 153
d.c. Any request order of the State Health Officer given 154
to effectuate this paragraph is immediately enforceable by a law 155
enforcement officer under s. 381.0012. 156
e. Closures of churches, businesses, government buildings 157
and services, schools, groups of private residences, and public 158
domains, and altering or adjusting elections procedures and 159
protocols, are prohibited. Any such actions that affect entire 160
groups or communities are only permitted when approved by a two -161
thirds vote of the membership of each house of the Legislature. 162
(4) The department has the duty and the authority to 163
declare, enforce, modify, and abolish the isolation and 164
quarantine of persons, animals, and premises as the 165
circumstances indicate for controlling communicable diseases or 166
providing protection from unsafe conditions that pose a threat 167
to public health, except as provided in ss. 384.28 and 392.545 -168
392.60. Any order of the department issued pursuant to this 169
subsection shall be immediately enforceable by a law enforcement 170
officer under s. 381.0012. 171
(5) The department shall adopt rules to specify the 172
conditions and procedures for imposing and releasing an 173
isolation or a quarantine. The rules must include provisions 174
related to: 175
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(a) The closure of individual premises. 176
(b) The movement of individuals on a case by case basis 177
persons or animals exposed to or infected with a communicable 178
disease. 179
Section 3. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section 180
381.003, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 181
381.003 Communicable disease and AIDS prevention and 182
control.— 183
(1) The department shall conduct a communicable disease 184
prevention and control program as part of fulfilling its public 185
health mission. A communicable disease is any disease caused by 186
transmission of a specific infectious agent, or its toxic 187
products, from an infected person, an infected animal, or the 188
environment to a susceptible host, either directly or 189
indirectly. The communicable disease program must include, but 190
need not be limited to: 191
(e) Develop and provide access to, but not require the 192
participation in programs for the prevention and control of 193
vaccine-preventable diseases, including programs to immunize 194
school children as required by s. 1003.22(3) -(11) and the 195
development of an automat ed, electronic, and centralized 196
database and registry of immunizations. The department shall 197
ensure that all children in this state are afforded access to be 198
immunized against vaccine -preventable diseases. The immunization 199
registry must allow the departmen t to enhance current 200
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immunization activities for the purpose of improving the 201
immunization of all children in this state. 202
1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2., the department 203
shall include all children born in this state in the 204
immunization registry by using the birth records from the Office 205
of Vital Statistics. The department shall add other children to 206
the registry as immunization services are provided. 207
2. The parent or guardian of a child may refuse to have 208
the child included in the immunization registry by signing a 209
form obtained from the department, or from the health care 210
practitioner or entity that provides the immunization, which 211
indicates that the parent or guardian does not wish to have the 212
child included in the immunization registry. Each consent to 213
treatment form provided by a health care practitioner or by an 214
entity that administers vaccinations or causes vaccinations to 215
be administered to children from birth through 17 years of age 216
must contain a notice stating that the parent or guardia n of a 217
child may refuse to have his or her child included in the 218
immunization registry. The parent or guardian must provide such 219
opt-out form to the health care practitioner or entity upon 220
administration of the vaccination. Such health care practitioner 221
or entity shall submit the form to the department. A parent or 222
guardian may submit the opt -out form directly to the department. 223
Any records or identifying information pertaining to the child 224
shall be removed from the registry, if the parent or guardian 225
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has refused to have his or her child included in the 226
immunization registry. 227
3. A college or university student, from 18 years of age 228
to 23 years of age, who obtains a vaccination from a college or 229
university student health center or clinic in the state may 230
refuse to be included in the immunization registry by signing a 231
form obtained from the department, health center, or clinic 232
which indicates that the student does not wish to be included in 233
the immunization registry. The student must provide such opt -out 234
form to the health center or clinic upon administration of the 235
vaccination. Such health center or clinic shall submit the form 236
to the department. A student may submit the opt -out form 237
directly to the department. Any records or identifying 238
information pertainin g to the student shall be removed from the 239
registry if the student has refused to be included in the 240
immunization registry. 241
4. The immunization registry shall allow for immunization 242
records to be electronically available to entities that are 243
required by law to have such records, including, but not limited 244
to, schools and licensed child care facilities. 245
5. A health care practitioner licensed under chapter 458, 246
chapter 459, or chapter 464 in this state who administers 247
vaccinations or causes vaccinations t o be administered to 248
children from birth through 17 years of age is required to 249
report vaccination data to the immunization registry, unless a 250
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parent or guardian of a child has refused to have the child 251
included in the immunization registry by meeting the 252
requirements of subparagraph 2. A health care practitioner 253
licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, or chapter 464 in this 254
state who administers vaccinations or causes vaccinations to be 255
administered to college or university students from 18 years of 256
age to 23 years of age at a college or university student health 257
center or clinic is required to report vaccination data to the 258
immunization registry, unless the student has refused to be 259
included in the immunization registry by meeting the 260
requirements of subp aragraph 3. Vaccination data for students in 261
other age ranges may be submitted to the immunization registry 262
only if the student consents to inclusion in the immunization 263
registry. The upload of data from existing automated systems is 264
an acceptable method f or updating immunization information in 265
the immunization registry. The information in the immunization 266
registry must include the child's name, date of birth, address, 267
and any other unique identifier necessary to correctly identify 268
the child; the immunizati on record, including the date, type of 269
administered vaccine, and vaccine lot number; and the presence 270
or absence of any adverse reaction or contraindication related 271
to the immunization. Information received by the department for 272
the immunization registry r etains its status as confidential 273
medical information and the department must maintain the 274
confidentiality of that information as otherwise required by 275
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law. A health care practitioner or other agency that obtains 276
information from the immunization registry must maintain the 277
confidentiality of any medical records in accordance with s. 278
456.057 or as otherwise required by law. 279
6. This section does not prevent individuals from refusing 280
all medical treatments, procedures, and prophylactic medical 281
measures, including, but not limited to, testing, treatment, 282
gene therapy, and vaccinations. All medical care offered or 283
implemented through a communicable disease prevention and 284
control program shall be done with the written consent of 285
participating individuals or thei r legal guardians. 286
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 287