S.F. _____ Section 1. NEW SECTION . 126.13 Advertisements for legal 1 services. 2 1. An advertisement for legal services soliciting clients 3 who may allege an injury from a drug approved by the United 4 States food and drug administration must include the following 5 warning if discontinuing use of the drug may result in injury: 6 “Do not stop taking a prescribed medication without first 7 consulting with your doctor. Discontinuing a prescribed 8 medication without your doctor’s advice can result in injury”. 9 2. An advertisement for legal services soliciting clients 10 who may allege an injury from a drug approved by the United 11 States food and drug administration must include the following 12 warning if discontinuing use of the drug may result in death: 13 “Do not stop taking a prescribed medication without first 14 consulting with your doctor. Discontinuing a prescribed 15 medication without your doctor’s advice can result in injury 16 or death”. 17 3. An advertisement for legal services soliciting clients 18 who may allege an injury from a drug or device approved by the 19 United States food and drug administration must disclose that 20 the drug or device remains approved by the United States food 21 and drug administration, unless the drug or device has been 22 recalled or withdrawn. 23 Sec. 2. Section 714.16, subsection 2, Code 2020, is amended 24 by adding the following new paragraph: 25 NEW PARAGRAPH . q. (1) It is an unlawful practice for a 26 person advertising legal services to do any of the following: 27 (a) Present an advertisement as a “medical alert”, “health 28 alert”, “consumer alert”, “public service announcement”, or 29 words of similar import. 30 (b) Display the logo of a federal or state governmental 31 agency in the advertisement in a manner that suggests 32 affiliation with or the sponsorship of the agency. 33 (c) Use the word “recall” when referring to a product that 34 has not been recalled by a governmental agency or through an 35 -1- LSB 5944XC (3) 88 ja/jh 1/ 5

S.F. _____ agreement between a manufacturer and a governmental agency. 1 (d) Fail to identify the attorney or law firm that will 2 represent clients, or how cases will be referred to attorneys 3 or law firms that will represent clients, if the sponsor of 4 the advertisement may not represent a person responding to the 5 advertisement. 6 (e) Fail to identify the sponsor of the advertisement if 7 the sponsor is not the attorney or law firm that will represent 8 clients. 9 (2) It is an unlawful practice for a person to use, cause to 10 be used, obtain, sell, transfer, or disclose an individual’s 11 protected health information, without the individual’s written 12 authorization, for the purpose of soliciting the individual 13 for legal services. As used in this subparagraph, “protected 14 health information” means the same as defined in 45 C.F.R. 15 §160.103. A person who violates this subparagraph is guilty 16 of a serious misdemeanor. This subparagraph shall not be 17 construed to restrict a person’s ability to disclose protected 18 health information to the person’s attorney in the course of 19 a legal proceeding, or as otherwise permitted or required by 20 state or federal law. 21 (3) Nothing in this paragraph shall limit or otherwise 22 affect the authority of the Iowa supreme court to regulate 23 the practice of law or discipline individuals admitted to the 24 practice of law before the Iowa supreme court. 25 Sec. 3. Section 714.16, Code 2020, is amended by adding the 26 following new subsection: 27 NEW SUBSECTION . 7A. Notwithstanding the maximum civil 28 penalty in subsection 7, if a court finds that a person has 29 engaged in a method, act, or practice declared unlawful under 30 subsection 2, paragraph “q” , with the intent to sell, transfer, 31 or use protected health information for financial gain, the 32 attorney general may request and the court may impose a civil 33 penalty not to exceed two hundred and fifty thousand dollars 34 per violation. 35 -2- LSB 5944XC (3) 88 ja/jh 2/ 5

S.F. _____ EXPLANATION 1 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 2 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 3 This bill relates to the advertisement of legal services and 4 makes penalties applicable. 5 The bill establishes certain restrictions on the 6 advertisement of legal services soliciting clients who 7 may allege an injury from a drug. The bill provides that 8 such advertisements must include the following warning if 9 discontinuing use of the drug may result in injury: “Do not 10 stop taking a prescribed medication without first consulting 11 with your doctor. Discontinuing a prescribed medication 12 without your doctor’s advice can result in injury”. The 13 bill also provides that such advertisements must include the 14 following warning if discontinuing use of the drug may result 15 in death: “Do not stop taking a prescribed medication without 16 first consulting with your doctor. Discontinuing a prescribed 17 medication without your doctor’s advice can result in injury or 18 death”. The bill requires an advertisement for legal services 19 soliciting clients who may allege an injury from a drug or 20 device to disclose that the drug or device remains approved by 21 the United States food and drug administration, unless the drug 22 or device has been recalled or withdrawn. 23 A person who violates these advertisement provisions for 24 the first time is guilty of a serious misdemeanor, and a person 25 who violates the provisions after a conviction for the first 26 violation is guilty of an aggravated misdemeanor. A serious 27 misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than one 28 year and a fine of at least $315 but not more than $1,875. An 29 aggravated misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more 30 than two years and a fine of at least $625 but not more than 31 $6,250. 32 The bill provides that it is an unlawful practice under Code 33 section 714.16 (consumer frauds) for a person advertising legal 34 services to do any of the following: present an advertisement 35 -3- LSB 5944XC (3) 88 ja/jh 3/ 5

S.F. _____ as a “medical alert”, “health alert”, “consumer alert”, “public 1 service announcement”, or words of similar import; display 2 the logo of a federal or state governmental agency in the 3 advertisement in a manner that suggests affiliation with or the 4 sponsorship of the agency; use the word “recall” when referring 5 to a product that has not been recalled; fail to identify the 6 attorney or law firm that will represent clients, or how cases 7 will be referred to attorneys or law firms that will represent 8 clients; or fail to identify the sponsor of the advertisement 9 if the sponsor is not the attorney or law firm that will 10 represent clients. 11 The bill also provides that it is an unlawful practice for 12 a person to use, cause to be used, obtain, sell, transfer, 13 or disclose an individual’s protected health information, 14 without the individual’s written authorization, for the purpose 15 of soliciting the individual for legal services. The bill 16 defines “protected health information” by reference to federal 17 regulations, as individually identifiable health information 18 that is transmitted electronically, maintained in electronic 19 media, or transmitted or maintained in any other form or 20 medium. 21 A violation of this provision is a serious misdemeanor. A 22 serious misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more 23 than one year and a fine of at least $315 but not more than 24 $1,875. An aggravated misdemeanor is punishable by confinement 25 for no more than two years and a fine of at least $625 but not 26 more than $6,250. This provision does not restrict a person’s 27 ability to disclose protected health information to their 28 attorney in the course of a legal proceeding, or as otherwise 29 required or permitted by law. 30 The bill provides that the amendments to Code section 714.16 31 shall not limit or otherwise affect the authority of the Iowa 32 supreme court to regulate the practice of law or discipline 33 individuals admitted to the practice of law. 34 Pursuant to Code section 714.16(7), the maximum civil 35 -4- LSB 5944XC (3) 88 ja/jh 4/ 5

S.F. _____ penalty that a court may impose for engaging in an unlawful 1 practice is $40,000 per violation. The bill provides that if 2 a person engaged in a method, act, or practice declared an 3 unlawful practice under the bill, with the intent to sell, 4 transfer, or use protected health information for financial 5 gain, the attorney general may request and the court may impose 6 a civil penalty not to exceed $250,000 per violation. 7 -5- LSB 5944XC (3) 88 ja/jh 5/ 5