General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6423
January Session, 2013 LCO No. 3099
*03099_______PH_*
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 6423
January Session, 2013
LCO No. 3099
*03099_______PH_*
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING RADIATION SAFETY IN HEALTH CARE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2013) (a) For purposes of this section: (1) "CT scan" means the medical imaging method that combines a series of x-rays taken with a computed tomography scanner from many different angles and computer processing to create cross-sectional images of a person's bones and soft tissues; (2) "dose" has the same meaning as provided in 21 CFR 1020.30(b), as amended from time to time; and (3) "health care provider" means any person, corporation, facility or institution licensed by this state to provide health care services, or an officer, employee or agent thereof acting in the course and scope of his or her employment.
(b) A health care provider, who is authorized by the Commissioner of Public Health to operate a medical x-ray system pursuant to chapter 376c of the general statutes, shall, when performing a CT scan on a person, record the dose of radiation in the patient's radiology report, or attach the protocol page that includes the dose to the radiology report, provided the CT scanner is capable of calculating and displaying the dose.
(c) Each CT scanner that is capable of calculating and displaying a dose shall be inspected, annually, by a qualified professional to ensure the displayed dose does not deviate more than twenty per cent from the actual measured dose.
(d) (1) Not later than five business days after discovery of the occurrence of any one of the following events, a health care provider shall report such occurrence to the Department of Public Health and to the health care provider who referred the patient for the CT scan: (A) Repetition of a CT scan, unless ordered by a health care provider, when a specified dose that is established by the Commissioner of Public Health is exceeded; (B) irradiation of a body part other than that intended by the ordering health care provider when a specified dose that is established by the Commissioner of Public Health is exceeded; (C) radiation exposure that results in unanticipated permanent functional damage to an organ, a physiological system, hair loss or erythema, as determined by a qualified health care provider; (D) a dose to an embryo or fetus as a result of radiation to a known pregnant person that exceeds a specified dose that is established by the Commissioner of Public Health, except when such dose to the embryo or fetus was specifically approved by a health care provider; (E) therapeutic ionizing irradiation of the wrong person or wrong treatment site when the total dose delivered differs from the prescribed dose by more than twenty per cent; and (F) the dose is more than twenty per cent over the amount prescribed where the radiation was utilized for palliative care for the patient. The Commissioner of Public Health shall notify each health care provider and each person who has registered a CT scanner as an x-ray device with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, pursuant to regulations adopted under section 22a-150 of the general statutes, of the specified dose values during events that require reporting in accordance with this subsection.
(2) Not later than fifteen business days after discovery of any one of the events described in subdivision (1) of this subsection, a health care provider shall notify the patient who was the subject of the event, or the parent or guardian of such patient if the patient is a child, of its occurrence.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2013 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2013
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require documentation of CT scan radiation doses and reporting of certain events involving the use of a CT scan to the Department of Public Health, health care providers and patients.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]