(a)  All information collected pursuant to this chapter shall be confidential and shall be used solely for the purposes provided in this chapter. For purposes of this chapter, this information shall be referred to as “confidential information.” Access to confidential information shall be limited to authorized program staff, and persons with a valid scientific interest, who meet qualifications as determined by the director, who are engaged in demographic, epidemiological or other similar studies related to health, and who agree, in writing, to maintain confidentiality.

(b)  The department shall maintain an accurate record of all persons who are given access to confidential information. The record shall include: the name of the person authorizing access; name, title, address, and organizational affiliation of persons given access; dates of access; and the specific purpose for which information is to be used. The record of access shall be open to public inspection during normal operating hours of the state department.

(c)  All research proposed to be conducted by persons other than program staff, using confidential information in the system, shall first be reviewed and approved by the director and the State Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects. Satisfaction of the terms of the director’s rules for data access shall be deemed to establish a valid scientific interest for purposes of subdivision (a), entitling the researcher to review records collected pursuant to Section 103830 and to contact case subjects and controls. Before confidential information is disclosed pursuant to this section to any other person, agency, or organization, the requesting entity shall demonstrate to the department that the entity has established the procedures and ability to maintain the confidentiality of the information.

(d)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any disclosure authorized by this section shall include only the information necessary for the stated purpose of the requested disclosure, and shall be made only upon written agreement that the information will be kept confidential, used for the approved purpose, and not be further disclosed.

(e)  The furnishing of confidential information to the department or its authorized representative in accordance with this section shall not expose any person, agency, or entity furnishing the information to liability, and shall not be considered a waiver of any privilege or a violation of a confidential relationship.

(f)  Whenever program staff, pursuing program objectives, deems it necessary to contact case subjects and controls, program staff shall submit a protocol describing the research to the director and to the State Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects. Once a protocol is approved by that committee, program staff shall be deemed to have established a bona fide research purpose, and shall be entitled to complete the approved project and contact case subjects and controls without securing any additional approvals or waivers from any entity.

(g)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no part of the confidential information shall be available for subpoena, nor shall it be disclosed, discoverable, or compelled to be produced in any civil, criminal, administrative, or other proceeding, nor shall this information be deemed admissible as evidence in any civil, criminal, administrative, or other tribunal or court for any reason. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the publishing by the department of reports and statistical compilations relating to birth defects, stillbirth, or miscarriage that do not in any way identify individual cases or individual sources of information.

(h)  Any person who, in violation of a written agreement to maintain confidentiality, discloses any information provided pursuant to this section, or who uses information provided pursuant to this section in a manner other than as approved pursuant to this section may be denied further access to any confidential information maintained by the department. That person shall also be subject to a civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500). The penalty provided in this section shall not be construed as restricting any remedy, provisional or otherwise, provided by law for the benefit of the department or any person.

(i)  Notwithstanding the restrictions in this section, an individual to whom the information pertains shall have access to his or her own information in accordance with Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of the Civil Code.

(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 444, Sec. 1. Effective October 3, 2001.)