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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5278
February Session, 2022
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 5
licensed pursuant to chapter 370 of the general statutes or an advanced 6
practice registered nurse licensed pursuant to chapter 378 of the general 7
statutes; 8
(2) "Intimate examination" means an inpatient or outpatient pelvic, 9
prostate or rectal examination; and 10
(3) "Legal representative" means a court-appointed fiduciary, 11
including a guardian or conservator, or a person with power of attorney 12
authorized to act on a patient's behalf or, if the patient is a minor, the 13
patient's parent or guardian. 14
(b) A health care provider may perform an intimate examination on 15
a patient who is (1) under deep sedation or anesthesia, or (2) 16
unconscious only when (A) the patient or the legal representative of the 17 Substitute Bill No. 5278
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patient provided written informed consent to the intimate examination, 18
(B) the performance of an intimate examination is within the scope of 19
the surgical procedure or diagnostic examination to be performed on 20
the patient, or (C) in the case of an unconscious patient, the intimate 21
examination is required for diagnostic purposes. 22
(c) To obtain informed consent to perform an intimate examination 23
from a patient or the legal representative of a patient pursuant to 24
subparagraph (A) of subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section, the 25
health care provider shall comply with the following requirements: 26
(1) Provide the patient or the patient's legal representative with a 27
written or electronic informed consent form that (A) may be included as 28
a distinct or separate section of a general informed consent form, (B) 29
contains the following heading at the top of the form in at least eighteen 30
point, boldface type: "CONSENT FOR EXAMINATION OF PELVIC, 31
PROSTATE OR RECTAL REGION", (C) specifies the nature and 32
purpose of the intimate examination, (D) informs the patient or the 33
patient's legal representative that a medical student or resident may be 34
present if the patient or the patient's legal representative authorizes the 35
student or resident to perform the intimate examination or to observe or 36
otherwise be present at the intimate examination for training purposes, 37
either in person or through electronic means, (E) allows the patient or 38
the patient's legal representative the opportunity to consent to or refuse 39
to consent to the intimate examination, and (F) allows a patient or a 40
patient's legal representative that consents to an intimate examination 41
under subparagraph (E) of this subdivision the opportunity to authorize 42
or refuse to authorize a medical student or resident to perform the 43
intimate examination or observe or otherwise be present at the intimate 44
examination for training purposes, either in person or through 45
electronic means; 46
(2) Obtain the signature of the patient or the patient's legal 47
representative on the informed consent form provided under 48
subdivision (1) of this subsection; and 49 Substitute Bill No. 5278
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(3) Sign the informed consent form provided under subdivision (1) of 50
this subsection. 51
(d) The Department of Public Health (1) shall investigate any alleged 52
violation of subsection (b) or (c) of this section pursuant to subdivision 53
(11) of subsection (a) of section 19a-14 of the general statutes, and (2) if 54
the department determines a violation was committed, may take 55
disciplinary action under section 19a-17 of the general statutes. 56
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(a)(1), "licensed pursuant to chapter 370 of the general
statutes" was inserted after "assistant" and "licensed pursuant to chapter
378 of the general statutes" was inserted after "nurse" for clarity and
consistency.
PH Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO