| 1 | 1 | | 87R6877 MEW-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Cook H.B. No. 1773 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to creating the criminal offenses of obtaining unneeded |
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| 8 | 8 | | medical treatment by deception for a child, elderly individual, or |
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| 9 | 9 | | disabled individual and continuous abuse of a child, elderly |
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| 10 | 10 | | individual, or disabled individual. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as Alyssa's Law. |
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| 13 | 13 | | SECTION 2. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
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| 14 | 14 | | Sections 22.042 and 22.043 to read as follows: |
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| 15 | 15 | | Sec. 22.042. OBTAINING UNNEEDED MEDICAL TREATMENT BY |
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| 16 | 16 | | DECEPTION FOR CHILD, ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL, OR DISABLED INDIVIDUAL. |
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| 17 | 17 | | (a) In this section: |
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| 18 | 18 | | (1) "Child," "disabled individual," and "elderly |
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| 19 | 19 | | individual" have the meanings assigned by Section 22.04. |
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| 20 | 20 | | (2) "Health care provider" means a person who is |
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| 21 | 21 | | licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of this |
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| 22 | 22 | | state to provide health care in the ordinary course of business or |
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| 23 | 23 | | practice of a profession, including a paramedic, physician |
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| 24 | 24 | | assistant, licensed nurse, or licensed physician. |
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| 25 | 25 | | (3) "Medical history" includes any oral, written, or |
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| 26 | 26 | | electronic communication regarding an individual's current or |
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| 27 | 27 | | previous symptoms, diagnoses, or family medical history. |
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| 28 | 28 | | (4) "Medical treatment" includes a prescription for a |
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| 29 | 29 | | controlled substance, inpatient or outpatient surgery, or the |
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| 30 | 30 | | administration of general anesthesia. The term does not include a |
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| 31 | 31 | | vaccination. |
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| 32 | 32 | | (b) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly |
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| 33 | 33 | | provides false medical history to a health care provider to obtain |
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| 34 | 34 | | an unneeded medical treatment for a child, elderly individual, or |
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| 35 | 35 | | disabled individual. |
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| 36 | 36 | | (c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third |
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| 37 | 37 | | degree. |
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| 38 | 38 | | Sec. 22.043. CONTINUOUS ABUSE OF CHILD, ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL, |
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| 39 | 39 | | OR DISABLED INDIVIDUAL. (a) A person commits an offense if, during |
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| 40 | 40 | | a period that is 30 or more days but less than five years in |
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| 41 | 41 | | duration, the person engages two or more times in conduct that |
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| 42 | 42 | | constitutes an offense under Section 22.04 or 22.042 against one or |
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| 43 | 43 | | more victims. |
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| 44 | 44 | | (b) If a jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are |
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| 45 | 45 | | not required to agree unanimously on which specific conduct engaged |
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| 46 | 46 | | in by the defendant constituted an offense under Section 22.04 or |
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| 47 | 47 | | 22.042 or on which exact date the defendant engaged in that conduct. |
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| 48 | 48 | | The jury must agree unanimously that the defendant, during a period |
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| 49 | 49 | | that is 30 or more days but less than five years in duration, |
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| 50 | 50 | | engaged two or more times in conduct that constituted an offense |
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| 51 | 51 | | under Section 22.04 or 22.042. |
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| 52 | 52 | | (c) If the victim of an offense under Subsection (a) is the |
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| 53 | 53 | | same victim as a victim of an offense under Section 22.04 or 22.042, |
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| 54 | 54 | | a defendant may not be convicted of the offense under Section 22.04 |
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| 55 | 55 | | or 22.042 in the same criminal action as the offense under |
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| 56 | 56 | | Subsection (a), unless the offense under Section 22.04 or 22.042: |
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| 57 | 57 | | (1) is charged in the alternative; |
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| 58 | 58 | | (2) occurred outside the period in which the offense |
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| 59 | 59 | | alleged under Subsection (a) was committed; or |
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| 60 | 60 | | (3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser |
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| 61 | 61 | | included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (a). |
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| 62 | 62 | | (d) A defendant may not be charged with more than one count |
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| 63 | 63 | | under Subsection (a) if all of the conduct that constitutes an |
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| 64 | 64 | | offense under Section 22.04 or 22.042 is alleged to have been |
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| 65 | 65 | | committed against the same victim. |
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| 66 | 66 | | (e) An offense under this section is a felony of the second |
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| 67 | 67 | | degree. |
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| 68 | 68 | | SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 69 | 69 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 70 | 70 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 71 | 71 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 72 | 72 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 73 | 73 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 74 | 74 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 75 | 75 | | before that date. |
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| 76 | 76 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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