With limited exceptions, a patient, or his/her authorized representative, is entitled to access to his/her mental health records held by a health care provider. (Health & Safety Code § 1795.12). (See "Access to Mental Health Records," next section).

When- with the approval of the physician, psychologist, or social worker in charge

If the patient is a minor and his/her parent, guardian, or guardian ad litem designates, in writing, any person to receive information or records, the information must be released. However, a physician, psychologist, social worker, nurse, attorney, or other professional will not be compelled to release information given to her in confidence by members of the patient's family. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328(d)).

Information in the patient's treatment record pertaining to the denial of rights including the use of seclusion and restraint must be released to his/her conservator upon request. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5326.1).

If the patient's conservator designates, in writing, any person to receive information or records, the information must be released. However, a physician, psychologist, social worker, nurse, attorney, or other professional will not be compelled to release information given to him/her in confidence by members of the patient's family. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328(d)).

Information may be released to qualified persons in the course of conservatorship proceedings. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328(a)). Additionally, treatment facilities must release patient information and records to county officers engaging in conservatorship investigations. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5354). However, a treatment facility must obtain the consent of the patient or his/her conservator before releasing information to a professional person not employed by the facility who does not have the medical or psychological responsibility for the patient's care. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328(a)).

Information and records must be released to the attorney for the patient in any and

all proceedings upon presentation of a release of information signed by the patient (or, if applicable, by the patient's parent, guardian, guardian ad litem, or conservator). If the patient is unable to sign a release, the facility may release the information and records once it is satisfied of the identity of the attorney and the fact that the attorney represents the patient's interests. However, a physician, psychologist, social worker, nurse, attorney, or other professional will not be compelled to release information given to him/her in confidence by members of the patient's family. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 5328(j), 5328(d)). Information in the patient's treatment record pertaining to the denial of rights must be released to his/her attorney upon request. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5326.1).

Protection & Advocacy, Inc. (PAI), the agency established by federal law for the

protection and advocacy of the rights of individuals identified as mentally ill, is granted access to records and information under the following circumstances: (1) when the patient is a client of PAI's and the patient or her legal representative has authorized such access; (2) when the patient is unable to authorize access and has no legal representative or has a public entity as legal representative, and PAI has received a complaint that the patient has suffered abuse or neglect, or has determined that probable cause exists to believe that the patient has suffered abuse or neglect; or (3) when PAI receives a complaint about the patient's legal representative -or when PAI has probable cause to believe that the legal representative presents a serious and immediate threat to the patient's health or safety--and the legal representative fails to act to resolve the issue upon notification and an offer of assistance by PAI. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 4903(a), 5328.06).

Information in the patient's treatment record pertaining to the denial of rights including the use of seclusion and restraint must be released to the Office of Patients' Rights upon request. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5326.1. The functions of the Office of Patients' Rights are administered by Protection & Advocacy, Inc. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 5510, 4901).

Information in the patient's treatment record pertaining to the denial of rights must be released to the local mental health director upon request. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5326.1).

County Patients’ Rights Advocates, appointed by local mental health directors, must be given access to patient information and records in order to investigate patients' complaints of rights denials and to monitor mental health facilities' compliance with patients' rights provisions. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 5520, 5545).

When a county Patients’ Rights Advocate provides services to a specific client, the client or his/her guardian ad litem must give authorization if the Advocate is to have access to the client's records. The statute requires that the authorization be in writing or reduced to writing, when the Advocate makes a written note of the client's oral authorization. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5541).

Information and records may be released without the patient's consent in communications between qualified professional persons in the provisions of services or appropriate referrals, if (1) the persons releasing and receiving the information work in the same facility, or (2) the persons receiving the information do not work in the same facility but have medical or psychological responsibility for the patient's care. The release of information to other professional persons who do not have responsibility or have not yet assumed responsibility, requires the consent of the patient, his/her guardian, or his/her conservator. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328(a)).

Information and records may be released to licensing personnel who are authorized licensed or registered health professionals attached to the State Department of Health Services, as well as to authorized legal staff or special investigators attached to the State Department of Social Services, as necessary for them to inspect, license, and investigate health facilities and community care facilities. The information may be used by either Department in a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding, but may only be released to the judge or hearing officer and to the parties to the case. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328.15(a)).

Information and records may also be released to any board which licenses and certifies mental health professionals when the Director of Mental Health has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of a law subject to the board's jurisdiction has occurred and the records are relevant to the violation. The records, which must not contain the patient's name, must be sealed after the board reaches its decision. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328.15(b)).

Information and records must be released to members of multidisciplinary personnel

Information and records may be disclosed in communications relating to the prevention, investigation, or treatment of elder abuse or dependent adult abuse. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 5328.5, 15633.5).

Information and records may be released to multidisciplinary team members when

an older adult client, in the opinion of the human services agency serving older adults through a multidisciplinary team, presents signs of elder abuse or neglect. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328.05(a)).

Information and records may be released for research purposes without client consent provided that (1) the research follows the rules of conduct established by the Department of Mental Health, (2) the research is first reviewed by the appropriate institutional review board(s), and (3) the researcher signs an oath of confidentiality as described in Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328(e).

Confidentiality laws do not prohibit the compilation and publication of statistical

data for use by the government or by researchers under standards set by the Director of Mental Health. However, no information obtained in the course of research which identifies individual patients may be released via publication or other research communication. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 5328(e), 5329).

Information and records may be released to the extent necessary for patients to make claims--or for claims to be made on their behalf--for aid, insurance, or medical assistance to which they are entitled. The patient's consent is advisable, but not legally required in these instances. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328(c)). However, if the patient applies for disability or life insurance, information and records may be released only if the patient designates in writing the insurer to which he/she wants the information disclosed. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328(i)).

If an employer to whom a patient has applied for a job requires the patient's records, the records must be forwarded to a qualified physician representing the employer upon the patient's request, unless the physician or administrative officer responsible for the patient deems the release contrary to the patient's best interest. In such a case, the physician or administrator must notify the patient of his/her decision not to release the records within five days. If the physician or administrator also deems release of the records to the patient to be contrary to his/her best interest, the physician or administrator must give formal notice of this decision to the superior court in the county in which the patient resides. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328.9).

Information and records may be released without patient consent to the Senate Rules Committee or the Assembly Rules Committee for the purposes of legislative investigation authorized by these committees. Members of the state legislature also have access to information in treatment records pertaining to denial of rights, provided that patients' identities are concealed. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 5326.1, 5328(h)).

If a patient dies in a state hospital, the Department of Mental Health, the physician in charge of the patient, or the person in charge of the facility (or his/her designee) must release to the coroner information and records obtained in the course of providing treatment. Information about the patient's personal life which is not related to the diagnosis and treatment of the patient's physical condition should not be included. Information released to the coroner should be sealed and not made part of the public record. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328.8).

The physician in charge of the patient or the professional person in charge of the facility, or his or her designee, must make sure documentation is entered in the patient's medical record if any disclosure of records or information is made to:

Anyone the patient, patient's parent (in the case of a minor patient), conservator or guardian designates (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328(b), (d));

facility (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328.3); or

major crime (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328.4).

The documentation must include:

disclosure was made.

a. The health care provider must provide a written explanation for refusing to permit inspection or provide copies of the records, including a description of the specific adverse or detrimental consequences to the patient;

b. The health care provider must permit inspection by, or provide copies of, the records to a licensed health professional designated by the patient:

c. The health care provider must inform the patient both of the provider's refusal to permit access to the requested records and of the patient's right to have an appropriate health professional inspect and obtain the records; and

d. The health care provider must record in the chart the date of the request, the reason for the denial, a description of the specific anticipated adverse or detrimental consequences and whether the patient requested that another health professional inspect or obtain the requested records. (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 1795.14 (b)(1)-(4)).

b. findings form consultations and referrals to other health care providers;

d. treatment plan and regiment including medications prescribed;

f. prognosis, including significant continuing problems or conditions;

g. pertinent reports of diagnostic procedures and tests and all discharge summaries; and

h. objective findings form the most recent physical examination, such as blood pressure, weight, and actual values form routing laboratory tests. (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 1795.20(b)(1)-(8)).

Penal Code sections 11164 through 11174.3 require certain persons including a "child care custodian" or "health practitioner" (including both medical and nonmedical practitioners) who has knowledge of or observes a child (defined as a person under age 18) in his/her professional capacityor within the scope of his/her employment whom he/she reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse, to report such suspected instances of child abuse to a "child protective agency" immediately or as soon as practically possible by telephone and within 36 hours by a written report.

Reporting is required by certain person (see Section D, below) when they have knowledge of or observe a child whom they know or reasonably suspect has been the victim of child abuse.

"Reasonably suspect" means that it is objectively reasonable for a person to entertain such a suspicion, based upon facts that could cause a reasonable person in a like position, drawing when appropriate from his or her training and experience, to suspect child abuse. (Cal. Penal Code § 11166(a)).

If any child care custodian, health practitioner or employee of child protective services has knowledge of or reasonable suspects that mental suffering has been inflicted on a child or the child’s emotional well-being is endangered in any other way, he or she may, at his or her discretion, report such suspected instance of child abuse to a child protective agency. (Cal. Penal Code § 11166(b)).

Cal. Penal Code §§ 11165 to 11166 require a "child care custodian," "health practitioner," or employee of a "child protective agency" to report suspected child abuse.

.i. A "child care custodian" includes social workers, teachers, teacher’s aides and assistants,

licensed day care workers, employees of child care institutions, probation officers, parole officers

and various community professional and workers in schools, day care programs, youth centers

and camps. (Cal. Penal Code § 11165.7).

A telephone report, followed by a written report, must be made to a "child protective agency," which means a police or sheriff’s department, a county probation department, or a county welfare department, but not a school district police or security department.

Telephone report. A telephone report must be made immediately or a soon as is practically possible after receiving the information concerning the incident. (Cal. Penal Code § 11166(a)). The oral report must include:

Written report. The state Department of Justice has adopted a form, "Suspected Child Abuse Report," form SS 8572 which must be used for the written report.

Neither the physician-patient privilege nor the psychotherapist-patient privilege applies to information reported pursuant to this statute in a court proceeding or administrative hearing. (Cal. Penal Code § 11171(b)). In People v. Strizinger, 34 Cal. 3d 505, 668 P.2d 738, 194 Cal. Rptr. 431 (1983), the California Supreme Court held that the child abuse reporting requirements supersede the psychotherapist-patient privilege, and that confidential information must be disclosed by a psycholotherapist in order to fulfill the reporting requirements. However, only the information which must be reported may be disclosed.

No health practitioner or other person required by law to report suspected cases of child abuse shall incur any civil or criminal liability as a result of making a report required or authorized by the statute. (Cal. Penal Code § 11172(a)).

Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 15600 through 15637 state mandatory reporting requirements for abuse of elders and dependent adult. Abuse of an elder or dependent adult is a criminal act. (Cal. Penal Code § 368).

•. Assault

A care custodian or health practitioner may file a report where that person has knowledge of or reasonably suspects that abuse other than physical abuse has been inflicted on an elder or dependent adult or that emotional well-being of an elder or dependent adult is endangered in any other way.

Types of elder or dependent adult abuse other than physical abuse include: neglect, abandonment, fiduciary abuse, other treatment with resulting physical harm or pain or mental suffering , intimidation or cruel punishment, isolation, physical restraint of an elder or dependent adult for the purpose of preventing him or her from meeting with visitors, false imprisonment, deprivation by a care custodian of goods or services necessary to avoid harm or mental suffering.

"Neglect" means the negligent failure of a person having the care or custody of an elder or dependent adult to exercise that degree of care which a reasonable person in a like position would exercise. Neglect includes, but is not limited, to the following:

An elder or dependent adult "care custodian," "health practitioner" or employee of an adult protective service agency or local law enforcement agency is required to report known or suspect physical abuse.

• "Care custodian" means an administrator or an employee (except persons who do not work directly with elders or dependent adults as part of their official duties, including members of support staff and maintenance staff) of the following public or private facilities when the facilities provide care for elders or dependent adults.

• "Health practitioner" means a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, dentist, resident intern, optometrist, podiatrist, chiropractor, licensed nurse (including registered and licensed vocational nurses), dental hygienist, licensed clinical social worker, marriage, family and child counselor and trainee or intern, an emergency medical technician I or II, paramedic, psychological assistant, state or county public health or social service employee who treats an elder or dependent adult for any condition, a coroner, or a religious practitioner who diagnoses, examines or treats elders or dependent adults.

• "Adult protective services agency" means a county welfare department, except person who do not work directly with elders or dependent adults as part of their official duties, including members of support staff and maintenance staff.

• "Local law enforcement agency" means a city police or county sheriff’s department, or a county probation department.

Welfare and Institutions Code sections 15630(b) and 15631(a) permit, but do not require, reporting from any person who has knowledge of or reasonably suspects that and elder or dependent adult has been the victim of abuse.

"Reasonable suspicion" means that it is objectively reasonable for a person to entertain such a suspicion, based upon facts that could cause a reasonable person in a like position, drawing when appropriate from his or her training and experience, to suspect abuse. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15631(b)).

A telephone report, followed by a written report within two working days, must be made, to either the long-term care ombudsman coordinator or to local law enforcement when abuse is alleged to have occurred in a long-term facility, or to either the county adult protective services or to a local law enforcement agency when the abuse is alleged to have occurred anywhere else. (Cal. Welf. & Intit. Code § 15630(a)(1)). The report should contain the following information unless the information is unavailable to the person reporting: the name, address, telephone number and occupation of the person making the report; the name and address of the victim; the date, time and place of the incident; other details, including the reporter’s observations and beliefs concerning the incident; any statement relating the incident made by the victim; the names of any individuals believed to have knowledge of this incident; and the names of the individuals believed to be responsible for the incident and their connection to the victim. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 1563(a)(2)(g)).

No care custodian, health practitioner or employee of an adult protective services agency or local law enforcement agency shall incur any civil or criminal liability as a result of making a report required or authorized by the statute. Any other person reporting a suspected instance of dependent adult abuse shall not incur civil or criminal liability as a result of making any report authorized by the section unless it can be proved that a false report was made and the person knew it was false. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15634(a)).

A person who is required to, but fails to report an instance of elder or dependent adult abuse may be found guilty of a misdemeanor. The punishment may include up to six months imprisonment in the county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. (Cal. Welf. & Instit. Code § 15634(d)).

Hospitals and other employers of "health practitioners" and care custodians" are required to provide forms on which person hired for such positions acknowledge that they are aware of the dependent adult abuse reporting requirements and that they comply with them.

Penal Code section 11160(b)R requires reporting of a sexual assault to local law enforcement by telephone and in writing. Local law enforcement official must be notified by telephone prior to commencement of the required medical examination. (see below).

Penal Code section 13823.9(c) requires each county to designate at least one general acute care hospital to perform examinations on victims of sexual assault including child molestation. Additionally, all public and private general acute care hospitals must either comply with the standards, protocols and guidelines in examining or treating victims of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault, including child molestation, or "adopt a protocol for immediate referral of these victims to a local hospital that so complies and shall notify local law enforcement agencies, the district attorney, and local victim assistance agencies of the adoption of a referral protocol." (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 1281).

Each physician in a public or private general acute care hospital who conducts and examination for evidence of a sexual assault or attempted sexual assault, including child molestation, must use the standard form adopted by the Department of Justice in cooperation with the Department of Health Services, and must make such observations and perform such tests as may be required for recordation for all the data required by the for if the patient consents to be so examined. (Cal. Penal Code § 13823.5).

"Assaultive or abusive conduct" includes murder, manslaughter, mayhem, torture, assault with intent to commit mayhem, rape, sodomy or oral copulation, administering controlled substances to aid in the commission of a felony, battery, sexual battery, incest, throwing of vitriol, corrosive acid or caustic chemical, assault with a stun gun or taser, assault with a deadly weapon, rap, spousal rape, procuring any female to have sex with another man, child abuse or endangerment, spouse/partner abuse, sodomy, lewd and lascivious acts with a child, oral copulation, genital or anal penetration with a foreign object, elder abuse or any attempt to commit the above-listed offenses.

"Reasonably suspect" means that it is objectively reasonable for a person to entertain such a suspicion, based upon facts that could cause a reasonable person in a like position, drawing when appropriate from his or her training and experience, to suspect abuse. (Cal. Penal Code § 11162.5(d)).

A reported by telephone must be made immediately or as soon as possible. A written report must be prepared and sent to a local law enforcement agency within two (2) working days.

The reporting duties under this section are individual, provided that when two or more persons who are required to report are present and jointly have knowledge of a reportable event, they may agree among themselves report together.

No supervisor or administrator may impede or inhibit the reporting duties required under the law and no person making a report may be subject to any sanction for making the report.

The reports required by this law must be kept confidential by the health facility, clinic or physician’s office that submitted the report, and by local law enforcement agencies, and may only be disclosed by local law enforcement agencies to those involved in the investigation of the report or the enforcement of the criminal law implicated by a report. (Cal. Penal Code § 11163.2(b)).

In a court proceeding or administrative hearing, neither the physician-patient privilege nor the psychotherapist-patient privilege applies to information reported under this law. (Cal. Penal Code § 11163.2(a)).

No health practitioner or other person required by law to report suspected cases of injury or abuse shall incur any civil or criminal liability as a result of making a report required or authorized by the law. Furthermore, the practitioner shall not incur civil or criminal liability as a result of providing access to the victim at the request of an adult protective services agency or law enforcement. (Cal. Penal Code § 11161.9(c)).

The California Supreme court held in Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425, 551 P.2d 334, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14 (1976), that a therapist must warn, or take other appropriate action to protect, the foreseeable victim of a patient’s violence, if (1) a therapist-patient relationship exist, (2) the therapist knows or should know that the patient is dangerous, and (3) there is a foreseeable victim of the patient’s violent tendencies. The court held that in such situations, the justification for protecting the confidentiality of the patient information (e.g., to encourage patients to seek treatment and fully disclose information to their therapist) is outweighed by the need to warn potential victims so that they can protect themselves. In addition, Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5328.(r) provides for the release of confidential information when a therapist believes that a patient presents a serious danger of violence to reasonably foreseeable victim or victims.

A licensed therapist is required to immediately report to local law enforcement the identity of a person who has communicated to the licensed therapist a serious threat of physical violence against a reasonably identifiable victim or victims. A "licensed therapist" is defined in California Evidence Code § 1010. (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 8105(c)).

Immunity for Therapists.Civil Code § 43.92Provides immunity to therapists for failure to predict and/or warn of a patient’s violent behavior except when the patient has communicated a serious threat of physical violence against persons. The statute provides:

Welfare and Institutions Code Provisions. Welfare and Institutions Code sections 5154, 5173, 5259.3, 5267, 5270.50 provide immunity to various person involved in the treatment, evaluation and certification process, including the professional in charge of a facility, the medical director and the psychiatrist directly responsible for the patient’s treatment, provided that certain conditions are met.

The therapist’s decision regarding whether it is likely that the patient will carry out his or her threats, or that the patient presents a danger to another person, should be documented along with the information that led to the decision. If a warning is given, the therapist should disclose only that information which is necessary to enable the potential victim to recognize the seriousness of the threat and to take proper precautions to protect himself or herself

Some persons listed above may gain the right to possess or purchase a firearm by obtaining a court order specified under Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 8103(f)(4).

Mental health facility and treating health professionals are immune from civil liability for making any report required or authorized in Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 8108.

Prior to, or concurrent with, the discharge of a person described in section A, 1-5 above, the facility must inform the person that he or she is prohibited from owing, possessing, controlling, receiving, or purchasing any firearm or other dangerous weapon for five years from the date of discharge. The facility must also inform the person that they may petition a court for an order permitting the person to own, possess, control, receive or purchase a firearm.

If a patient who was detained or apprehended for examination of his or hermental condition had a weapon confiscated, the professional person in charge of the facility, or a designee, must notify the patient of the procedure for the return of the weapon confiscated.

Providers are required to report some diseases or conditions to their local health department. Disease notifications must include, if known, the diagnosis, name, address, telephone number, occupation, ethnic groups, social security number, sex and date of birth of the patient, the date of onset, the date of diagnosis, the date of death when applicable, and the name, address and telephone number of the person making the report. (17 C.C.R. § 2500).

Health and Safety Code section 410 requires every physician to report immediately to the local health officer in writing, the name, and date of birth, and address of every person age 14 or older whom the physician has diagnosed as having a disorder characterized by lapses of consciousness. A physician may report a patient’s condition, even if it is not listed as being required to be reported, if he or she reasonably and in good faith believes that reporting the patient will serve the public interest. A physician who reports a patient diagnosed as having a disorder characterized by lapses of consciousness pursuant to section 410 is not civilly or criminally liable to any patient for making the report. This information is then sent by the local health officer to the state Department of Health. Information is then sent by the local health officer to the state Department of Health Services, which in turn reports this information to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

A person age 14 years or older who during the preceding three years has experiences on one or more occasions, a lapse of consciousness or chronic confusional state that may be caused by a condition which may bring about lapses, including momentary lapses of consciousness or episodes of marked confusion. (9 C.C.R. § 2575)

Hospitals must report to the Department of Heath Services (DHS) and the county health officer whenever a patient is hospitalized whose physician confirms that the patient has a diagnosis of AIDS. The report must be made as soon as practicable after hospitalization of the patient for treatment. The report must include the name, date of birth, address and social security number of the patient; the name of the hospital; the date of the patient’s hospitalization; and any other information required by DHS. (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 1603.1(c), (d))

Recent amendments to the Health and Safety Code authorize an exposed individual who experienced a significant exposure to the blood or other potentially infectious materials of the source patient to be informed of the HIV status of the patient. Exposed individuals are defined as health care providers, agents or employees or as first responders (police, fire, rescue workers). Nothing in these provision authorizes the disclosure of the patient’s identity. The law also authorizes the blood or other tissue or other material of the source patient, as

defined, to be tested for HIV pursuant to a prescribed procedure, either with or without the consent of the source patient. The new law exempts a health care provider from civil or criminal liability or professional disciplinary action for performing and HIV test on a source patient or for disclosing the HIV status of the source patient to prescribed persons, if the health care provider believes in good faith that his or her action is consistent with these provisions. (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 121130 et seq).

Penal Code section 11161.8 provides that physician and surgeon and hospital administrator (or person in charge of a hospital ward in which a patient is received) must report by telephone and in writing within 36 hours to the local police and the county health department the fact of any patient received from a health facility or community care facility as defined in Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 1250, 1502, who exhibits a physical injury or condition which, in the opinion of the examining physician, reasonably appears to be the result of neglect or abuse.

Telephone and written reports must state the character and extent of the physical injury or condition to both the local police authority having jurisdiction and the county health department.

Registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, or licensed clinical social workers employed at the admitting hospital may report to the local police authority and the county health department the fact that a patient received from a health facility or community care facility, as defined in Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 1250 and 1502, exhibits a physical injury or condition which, in the opinion of the nurse or social worker, reasonably appears to be the result of neglect or abuse. A physician must confirm this opinion as is required for mandatory reporting. (Cal. Penal Code § 11161.8).

No person shall incur any civil or criminal liability as a result of making a report authorized by this section. (Cal. Penal Code § 11161.8).