33-26-408. Protected action and communication.

(a) There shall be no liability on the part of and no action for damages against:

(i) Board and examination committee members acting within the scope of their functions without malice and in the reasonable belief that their actions were warranted;

(ii) Any person providing information voluntarily or pursuant to a subpoena, in good faith to a peer review committee or in good faith to the board or the examining committee without malice and in reasonable belief that the information is accurate.

(b) All board records shall be maintained and protected from harm.

(c) Final findings of fact, conclusions of law, orders of the board entered and any consent decree, stipulation or agreement to which the board is a party in any disciplinary docket of the board are public documents. The board may order, under special circumstances and upon entry of specific findings setting forth those circumstances, that a consent decree, stipulation or agreement to which the board is a party in any disciplinary docket is not a public document.

(d) The board shall promptly report and provide all final orders entered by it to the chief of the medical staff and hospital administrator of each hospital in which the licensee has medical staff privileges and to all appropriate agencies including the federation of state medical boards, the national practitioner data bank and other state medical boards.

(e) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the United States or the state of Wyoming from obtaining information from the board concerning a physician who is the subject of a criminal investigation. Upon petition to a state or federal district court, supported by affidavit, the judge may order the Wyoming board of medicine to release records of any proceedings, testimony of witnesses and reports or investigation for in-camera inspection by the judge, or the judge may deny the petition for failure to show good cause. The petition shall state the nature of the criminal investigation and the identity of the physician who is under investigation. If the judge grants the petition and orders the board to produce the board's records for in-camera inspection, the board shall comply within ten (10) days after entry of the order or as otherwise ordered by the court. Upon receipt of the records, the judge shall inspect them to determine what material, if any, is relevant to the criminal investigation. Material deemed to be relevant shall be made available to the investigation if otherwise admissible under the Wyoming Rules of Evidence. All records and material deemed by the court to be irrelevant or otherwise inadmissible under the Wyoming Rules of Evidence shall be returned to the board and the contents thereof shall not be divulged.

(f) The following documents are not public documents and are not subject to disclosure by the board to any person or entity nor are they subject to discovery in any civil or administrative action or admissible in any nonboard proceeding except when necessary for further board action, in any action in which the board may be named as a party or upon judicial review of a board order:

(i) Investigative notes, attorney s notes and work product and reports, pleadings, correspondence, witness statements and deposition transcripts and copies of original medical and prescription records in the possession of the board, whether acquired by the board, by any agent of the board or by any agency that has cooperated with or provided information to the board regarding the investigation of a disciplinary docket; and

(ii) Any and all records of the board regarding licensure applications and proceedings thereon.

(g) A respondent in a disciplinary case shall not be entitled to copies of investigative material unless the material is relevant to an ongoing investigation or a contested case hearing.

(h) The confidentiality of all documents and information described in this section shall exist and continue regardless of whether the confidential material is in the custody of any agency of the United States or any other agency of the state of Wyoming with whom the board has cooperated or is cooperating in an investigation.

(j) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the board from publishing in a directory or otherwise disclosing, general information about its licensees and former licensees including names, practice addresses, dates of licensure, licensure by other states, areas of practice, education, training and specialty board certifications.