Amend CSHB 2950 (senate committee report) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering the SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:

SECTION ____.  Section 193.005, Health and Safety Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (c) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a)  A person required to file a death certificate or fetal death certificate shall obtain the required medical certification from the decedent's [an] attending physician, or, subject to Subsection (a-1), an advanced practice registered nurse of the decedent, if the death occurred under [medical attendance for] the care of the person in connection with the [and] treatment of the condition or disease process that contributed to the death.

(b)  The attending physician or advanced practice registered nurse shall complete the medical certification not later than five days after receiving the death certificate.

(c)  An associate physician, the chief medical officer of the institution where the death occurred, or the physician who performed an autopsy on the decedent may complete the medical certification if:

(1)  the attending physician and the advanced practice registered nurse described by Subsection (a) are [is] unavailable;

(2)  the attending physician or the advanced practice registered nurse described by Subsection (a) approves; and

(3)  the person completing the medical certification has access to the medical history of the case and the death is due to natural causes.

SECTION ____.  Section 671.001(d), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(d)  A registered nurse, including an advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant may determine and pronounce a person dead in situations other than those described by Subsection (b) if permitted by written policies of a licensed health care facility, institution, or entity providing services to that person. Those policies must include physician assistants who are credentialed or otherwise permitted to practice at the facility, institution, or entity. If the facility, institution, or entity has an organized nursing staff and an organized medical staff or medical consultant, the nursing staff and medical staff or consultant shall jointly develop and approve those policies. The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall adopt rules to govern policies for facilities, institutions, or entities that do not have organized nursing staffs and organized medical staffs or medical consultants.

SECTION ____.  Section 671.002(a), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a)  A physician who determines death in accordance with Section 671.001(b) or a registered nurse, including an advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant who determines death in accordance with Section 671.001(d) is not liable for civil damages or subject to criminal prosecution for the physician's, registered nurse's, or physician assistant's actions or the actions of others based on the determination of death.