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https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20170&cosponId=24245
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House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: June 27, 2017 01:36 PM
From: Representative Dan Frankel
To: All House members
Subject: Patient Trust Act
 
In the near future, I will be re-introducing House Bill 1105 of the 2015-2016 Legislative Session. This proposal, known as the Patient Trust Act, is part of the Agenda for Women’s Health.

Over the past several years, there has been a wave of short-sighted proposals introduced in state legislatures throughout the country that directly contradict empirical evidence or what is considered appropriate medical care. A recent example of this legislative overreach is the Texas Senate, which earlier this year passed legislation that would allow doctors to withhold information regarding fetal health to parents without fear of being sued. This phenomenon is not just happening in other states, however. Right here in Pennsylvania, there have been numerous attempts to interfere with how doctors provide and how women receive reproductive health care. Legislators have taken it upon themselves to dictate how doctors and other medical professionals communicate to their patients, inserting their own moral and personal beliefs in the exam room. Not only is this dangerous to public health, it also forces health care providers to choose between adhering to their ethical mandate to provide the best possible care and following the rule of law.

As legislators, we must embrace the fact that health care providers know more than legislators when it comes to interacting with and caring for patients. My legislation will prevent the Commonwealth from requiring health care providers to engage in care that is not medically accurate or appropriate for the patient. This legislation is pro-patient, pro-provider and a pro-health attempt to reign in legislative over-reach into the examination room and to protect those medically accurate, evidence based treatments and approaches for which physicians - not legislators - are trained to dispense.

Previous co-sponsors: CALTAGIRONE, THOMAS, ROZZI, DAVIS, SCHLOSSBERG, D. COSTA, O'BRIEN, M. DALEY, McNEILL, SIMS, KINSEY, DEAN, ROEBUCK, STURLA, SCHWEYER, BRIGGS, DeLISSIO, McCARTER, YOUNGBLOOD, J. HARRIS, PASHINSKI, W. KELLER, FABRIZIO, BOYLE, WHEATLEY, BULLOCK and DONATUCCI.



Introduced as HB1636