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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5278
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 1853
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT PROHIBITING AN UNAUTHORIZED INTIMATE EXAMINATION
ON A PATIENT WHO IS UNDER DEEP SEDATION OR ANESTHESIA
OR UNCONSCIOUS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2022) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Health care provider" means a physician licensed pursuant to 2
chapter 370 of the general statutes, a student in a medical school 3
participating in a course of instruction, a person participating in a 4
residency program or clinical training program, a physician assistant or 5
an advanced practice registered nurse; 6
(2) "Intimate examination" means an inpatient or outpatient pelvic, 7
prostate or rectal examination; and 8
(3) "Legal representative" means a court-appointed fiduciary, 9
including a guardian or conservator, or a person with power of attorney 10
authorized to act on a patient's behalf or, if the patient is a minor, the 11
patient's parent or guardian. 12 Raised Bill No. 5278
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(b) A health care provider may perform an intimate examination on 13
a patient who is (1) under deep sedation or anesthesia, or (2) 14
unconscious only when (A) the patient or the legal representative of the 15
patient provided written informed consent to the intimate examination, 16
(B) the performance of an intimate examination is within the scope of 17
the surgical procedure or diagnostic examination to be performed on 18
the patient, or (C) in the case of an unconscious patient, the intimate 19
examination is required for diagnostic purposes. 20
(c) To obtain informed consent to perform an intimate examination 21
from a patient or the legal representative of a patient pursuant to 22
subparagraph (A) of subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section, the 23
health care provider shall comply with the following requirements: 24
(1) Provide the patient or the patient's legal representative with a 25
written or electronic informed consent form that (A) may be included as 26
a distinct or separate section of a general informed consent form, (B) 27
contains the following heading at the top of the form in at least eighteen 28
point, boldface type: "CONSENT FOR EXAMINATION OF PELVIC, 29
PROSTATE OR RECTAL REGION", (C) specifies the nature and 30
purpose of the intimate examination, (D) informs the patient or the 31
patient's legal representative that a medical student or resident may be 32
present if the patient or the patient's legal representative authorizes the 33
student or resident to perform the intimate examination or to observe or 34
otherwise be present at the intimate examination for training purposes, 35
either in person or through electronic means, (E) allows the patient or 36
the patient's legal representative the opportunity to consent to or refuse 37
to consent to the intimate examination, and (F) allows a patient or a 38
patient's legal representative that consents to an intimate examination 39
under subparagraph (E) of this subdivision the opportunity to authorize 40
or refuse to authorize a medical student or resident to perform the 41
intimate examination or observe or otherwise be present at the intimate 42
examination for training purposes, either in person or through 43
electronic means; 44
(2) Obtain the signature of the patient or the patient's legal 45 Raised Bill No. 5278
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representative on the informed consent form provided under 46
subdivision (1) of this subsection; and 47
(3) Sign the informed consent form provided under subdivision (1) of 48
this subsection. 49
(d) The Department of Public Health (1) shall investigate any alleged 50
violation of subsection (b) or (c) of this section pursuant to subdivision 51
(11) of subsection (a) of section 19a-14 of the general statutes, and (2) if 52
the department determines a violation was committed, may take 53
disciplinary action under section 19a-17 of the general statutes. 54
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit an unauthorized intimate examination on a patient who is
under deep sedation or anesthesia or unconscious.
[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.]