J. MILLARD TAWES, Governor                     1835

any in-hospital staff committee or any national organized medical
societies or research groups for purposes of research or study shall
be confidential; generally describing the conditions and procedures
for the use of all such information and for the observance of its
confidential nature; further providing that all such types of in-
formation shall not be admissible as evidence in any court and in
any administrative hearing or procedure; prohibiting the bringing
of an action for furnishing any such information to the Medical
and Chirurgical Faculty or any of its allied medical societies or
any in-hospital staff committee or any national organized medical
societies or research groups; and relating generally to certain con-
fidential types of information assembled or procured by the Medi-
cal and Chirurgical Faculty or any of its allied medical societies
or any in-hospital staff committee or any national organized medi-
cal societies or research groups and to the rights and duties of
other persons in relation thereto.

Whereas, it is necessary to obtain voluntary cooperation of the
sources of information in order to collect complete and accurate in-
formation for research purposes; and

Whereas, in order to obtain this cooperation for the collection of
information for the purpose of advancing medical research, it is
necessary to assure the confidentiality of the information obtained
in the research which would permit the identification of the in-
dividuals concerned.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That a new Section 101 be and it is hereby added to Article 35 of
the Annotated Code of Maryland (1957 Edition and 1962 Supple-
ment), title "Evidence," to be under the new subtitle "Records of
Health and Mental Research," and to follow immediately after Sec-
tion 100 of said Article; that a new Section 149A be and it is hereby
added to Article 43 of said Code, title "Health," to follow immmedi-
ately after Section 149 thereof, and to be under the subtitle "Prac-
titioners of Medicine"; and that a new Section 10 be and it is hereby
added to Article 75C of said Code, title "Prohibited Actions," to fol-
low immediately after Section 9 thereof, and to be under the new sub-
title "Health and Mental Research," and all to read as follows:

Article 35

Records of Health and Mental Research
101.

The records, reports, statements, notes or other information de-
scribed in Section 149A of Article 43 of this Code, assembled or pro-
cured by the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty or any of its allied
medical societies or any in-hospital staff committee or any national
organized medical societies or research groups for the purposes there
specified, are not admissible as evidence in any court or in any ad-
ministrative hearing or procedure; and the employees or agents of
the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty or any of its allied medical
societies or any in-hospital staff committee or any national organized
medical societies or research groups shall not be compelled to divulge
any of such records, reports, statements, notes, or other information.