W. Va. Code R. § 64-96-5 - Conduct of Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team

5.1. The Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team shall meet two to four times per year, based upon the number of deaths.

5.2. The Governor shall appoint persons to vacancies on the Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team as outlined in W. Va. Code '48-25A-2.

5.3. Each member shall serve for a term of five years. Of the members of the team first appointed, one shall be appointed for a term ending the thirtieth day of June, two thousand eleven, and one each for terms ending one, two, three and four years thereafter.

5.4. Members of the Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team shall, unless sooner removed, continue to serve until their respective terms expire and until their successors have been appointed and have qualified.

5.5. An appointment of a physician, whether for a full term or to fill a vacancy, is to be made by the Governor from among three nominees selected by the West Virginia State Medical Association or the organization to be represented on the team. When an appointment is for a full term, the nomination is to be submitted to the Governor not later than eight months prior to the date on which the appointment is to become effective. In the case of an appointment to fill a vacancy, the nominations are to be submitted to the Governor within thirty days after the request for the nomination has been made by the Governor to the chairperson or president of the organization. When an association fails to submit to the Governor nominations for the appointment in accordance with the requirements of this section, the Governor may make the appointment without nominations.

5.6. The Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team shall submit an annual report to the Governor and to the Legislature concerning its activities and the incidents of infant and maternal deaths within the state. The report is due annually on the first day of December. The report is to include statistics setting forth the number of infant and maternal deaths, identifiable trends in infant and maternal deaths in the state, including possible causes, if any, and recommendations to reduce the number of preventable infant and maternal deaths in the state. The report is to also include the number of infants and mothers whose deaths have been determined to have been unexpected or unexplained.

5.7. Each member of the Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team shall serve without additional compensation and may not be reimbursed for any expenses incurred in the discharge of his or her duties under the provisions of this article.

5.8. The chairperson of the Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team, or his or her designee, shall review death certificates of infants and women sent quarterly by the office of vital statistics.

5.9. Each member of the Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team shall examine the records of his or her agency to determine if the infant or woman received services at his or her agency, and if necessary, may contact other agencies to complete the review.

5.10. Team members shall present to the rest of the Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team the information obtained from the record reviews, but shall retain the documents in each agency=s files.

5.11. All documents regarding a particular case that are reviewed by the Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team shall be destroyed by the Team after the publication of the annual report in which that case data is included.

5.12. The Infant and Maternal Mortality Review Team, in the exercise of its duties as defined in this section, may not: call witnesses or take testimony from individuals involved in the investigation of an infant or maternal fatality; contact a family member of the deceased infant or mother, except if a member of the team is involved in the investigation of the death and must contact a family member in the course of performing his or her duties outside of the team; or enforce any public health standard or criminal law or otherwise participate in any legal proceeding, except if a member of the team is involved in the investigation of the death or resulting prosecution and must participate in a legal proceeding in the course of performing in his or her duties outside of the team.

Notes

W. Va. Code R. § 64-96-5