[§671-12.5]  Certificate of consultation. 
(a)  Any claim filed with the medical claim conciliation panel under this
chapter shall be accompanied by a certificate which declares one of the
following:



(1)  That the claimant or the claimant's attorney has
consulted with at least one physician who is licensed to practice in this State
or any other state, and who is knowledgeable or experienced in the same medical
specialty as the health care professional against whom the claim is made, and
that the claimant or claimant's attorney has concluded on the basis of such
consultation that there is a reasonable and meritorious cause for filing the
claim.  If the claimant or the claimant's attorney is not able to consult with
a physician in the same medical specialty as the health care professional
against whom the claim is made, the claimant or claimant's attorney may consult
with a physician who is licensed in this State or in any other state who is
knowledgeable and experienced in a medical specialty that is as closely related
as practicable to the medical specialty of the health care professional against
whom the claim is made.  The physician or physicians consulted by the claimant
or the claimant's attorney may not be a party to the case, nor be compelled to
testify or otherwise participate in the hearing before the medical claim
conciliation panel;



(2)  That the claimant or the claimant's attorney was
unable to obtain the consultation required by paragraph (l) because a statute
of limitations would impair the action and that the certificate required by
paragraph (1) could not be obtained before the impairment of the action.  If a
certificate is executed pursuant to this paragraph, the certificate required by
paragraph (1) shall be filed by the claimant or the claimant's attorney within
ninety days after filing the claim; or



(3)  That the claimant or the claimant's attorney was
unable to obtain the consultation required by paragraph (1) after the claimant
or the claimant's attorney had made a good faith attempt to obtain such
consultation and the physician contacted would not agree to such a
consultation.  For purposes of this paragraph, "good faith attempt"
refers to the responsibility of a claimant or claimant's attorney to make
reasonable efforts to contact a physician for the purpose of reviewing the
circumstances upon which a claim is based.  The claimant or claimant's attorney
may contact physicians by letter, telephone, facsimile, or other electronic
means of communication.  If the physician does not respond within a reasonable
time, the claimant or claimant's attorney may submit its claim to the medical
claim conciliation panel along with a certificate declaring such nonresponse to
claimant's good faith attempt.  A "good faith attempt" shall
ultimately be evaluated in light of the goal of having a qualified physician
assist the claimant or claimant's attorney in understanding the basis of the
claim, and such determination shall depend upon the circumstances of each
individual case.



(b)  Where a claimant or the claimant's
attorney intends to rely solely on a failure to inform of the consequences of a
procedure (informed consent), this section shall be inapplicable.  The claimant
or the claimant's attorney shall certify upon filing of the claim that the
claimant or the claimant's attorney is relying solely on the failure to inform
of the consequences of a procedure and for that reason is not filing a
certificate as required by this section.



(c)  For the purposes of this section, the
claimant or the claimant's attorney shall not be required to disclose the names
of any physician consulted to fulfill the requirements of subsection (a) to any
of the other parties to the claim.  The medical claim conciliation panel may
require the claimant or the claimant's attorney to disclose the name of any
physician consulted to fulfill the requirements of subsection (a).  No
disclosure of the name of any physician consulted to fulfill the requirements
of subsection (a) shall be made to any of the other parties to the claim;
provided that the medical claim conciliation panel may contact any such
physician to determine if the requirements of subsection (a) were met.



(d)  Unless a certificate is filed pursuant to
subsection (a) or (b), the claim shall not be received for filing by the medical
claim conciliation panel. [L 2003, c 211, §1]