Florida Senate - 2017                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 788
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì340588LÎ340588                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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       The Committee on Criminal Justice (Clemens) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 167 - 220
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 4. Section 397.488, Florida Statutes, is created to
    6  read:
    7         397.488 Prohibition of deceptive marketing practices.—
    8         (1) The Legislature recognizes that consumers of substance
    9  abuse treatment have disabling conditions and that such
   10  consumers and their families are vulnerable and at risk of being
   11  easily victimized by fraudulent marketing practices that
   12  adversely impact the delivery of health care. To protect the
   13  health, safety, and welfare of this vulnerable population, a
   14  service provider, an operator of a recovery residence, or a
   15  third party who provides any form of advertising or marketing
   16  services to a service provider or an operator of a recovery
   17  residence may not engage in any of the following marketing
   18  practices:
   19         (a) Making a false or misleading statement or providing
   20  false or misleading information about the provider’s or
   21  operator’s or third party’s products, goods, services, or
   22  geographical locations in its marketing, advertising materials,
   23  or media or on its website.
   24         (b) Including on its website false information, electronic
   25  links, or coding or activation that provides false information
   26  or that surreptitiously directs the reader to another website.
   27         (c) Soliciting, receiving, or making an attempt to solicit
   28  or receive a commission, benefit, bonus, rebate, kickback, or
   29  bribe, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, or engaging
   30  or making an attempt to engage in a split-fee arrangement in
   31  return for a referral or an acceptance or acknowledgment of
   32  treatment from a service provider or recovery residence.
   33         (d) Entering into a contract with a marketing provider who
   34  agrees to generate referrals or leads for the placement of
   35  patients with a service provider or in a recovery residence
   36  through a call center or a web-based presence, unless the
   37  service provider or the operator of the recovery residence
   38  discloses the following to the prospective patient so that the
   39  patient can make an informed health care decision:
   40         1. Information about the specific licensed service
   41  providers or recovery residences that are represented by the
   42  marketing provider and pay a fee to the marketing provider,
   43  including the identity of such service providers or recovery
   44  residences; and
   45         2. Clear and concise instructions that allow the
   46  prospective patient to easily access lists of licensed service
   47  providers and recovery residences on the department website.
   48         (2) In addition to any other punishment authorized by law,
   49  
   50  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   51  And the title is amended as follows:
   52         Delete lines 25 - 34
   53  and insert:
   54         397.488, F.S.; providing legislative findings;
   55         prohibiting service providers, operators of recovery
   56         residences, and certain third parties from engaging in
   57         specified marketing practices;