California Code, Health and Safety Code - HSC § 104340

(a) Statements, writings, or benevolent gestures expressing sympathy, regret, a general sense of benevolence, or suggesting, reflecting, or accepting fault relating to the pain, suffering, or death of a person, or to an adverse patient safety event or unexpected health care outcome, in relation to an act or omission to act in the provision of or failure to provide health care, and made to that person or the family or representative of that person prior to the filing of a lawsuit or demand for arbitration, shall be confidential, privileged, protected, not subject to subpoena, discovery, or disclosure, and shall not be used or admitted into evidence in any civil, administrative, regulatory, licensing, or disciplinary board, agency, or body action or proceeding, and shall not be used or admitted in relation to any sanction, penalty, or other liability, as evidence of an admission of liability or for any other purpose, and all such communications, whether verbal, electronic, in writing, or in any other form, shall also be entitled to the privileges and protections set forth in Sections 1119, 1152, 1157, and 1160 of the Evidence Code.

(b) For purposes of this section: