87R6877 MEW-F
By: Cook H.B. No. 1773
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to creating the criminal offenses of obtaining unneeded
medical treatment by deception for a child, elderly individual, or
disabled individual and continuous abuse of a child, elderly
individual, or disabled individual.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as Alyssa's Law.
SECTION 2. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Sections 22.042 and 22.043 to read as follows:
Sec. 22.042. OBTAINING UNNEEDED MEDICAL TREATMENT BY
DECEPTION FOR CHILD, ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL, OR DISABLED INDIVIDUAL.
(a) In this section:
(1) "Child," "disabled individual," and "elderly
individual" have the meanings assigned by Section 22.04.
(2) "Health care provider" means a person who is
licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of this
state to provide health care in the ordinary course of business or
practice of a profession, including a paramedic, physician
assistant, licensed nurse, or licensed physician.
(3) "Medical history" includes any oral, written, or
electronic communication regarding an individual's current or
previous symptoms, diagnoses, or family medical history.
(4) "Medical treatment" includes a prescription for a
controlled substance, inpatient or outpatient surgery, or the
administration of general anesthesia. The term does not include a
vaccination.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
provides false medical history to a health care provider to obtain
an unneeded medical treatment for a child, elderly individual, or
disabled individual.
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
degree.
Sec. 22.043. CONTINUOUS ABUSE OF CHILD, ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL,
OR DISABLED INDIVIDUAL. (a) A person commits an offense if, during
a period that is 30 or more days but less than five years in
duration, the person engages two or more times in conduct that
constitutes an offense under Section 22.04 or 22.042 against one or
more victims.
(b) If a jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are
not required to agree unanimously on which specific conduct engaged
in by the defendant constituted an offense under Section 22.04 or
22.042 or on which exact date the defendant engaged in that conduct.
The jury must agree unanimously that the defendant, during a period
that is 30 or more days but less than five years in duration,
engaged two or more times in conduct that constituted an offense
under Section 22.04 or 22.042.
(c) If the victim of an offense under Subsection (a) is the
same victim as a victim of an offense under Section 22.04 or 22.042,
a defendant may not be convicted of the offense under Section 22.04
or 22.042 in the same criminal action as the offense under
Subsection (a), unless the offense under Section 22.04 or 22.042:
(1) is charged in the alternative;
(2) occurred outside the period in which the offense
alleged under Subsection (a) was committed; or
(3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser
included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (a).
(d) A defendant may not be charged with more than one count
under Subsection (a) if all of the conduct that constitutes an
offense under Section 22.04 or 22.042 is alleged to have been
committed against the same victim.
(e) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
degree.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.