PRINTER'S NO. 3228
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2246
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY FIEDLER, HANBIDGE, OTTEN, INNAMORATO, LEE,
FRANKEL, McCLINTON, MURT, LEWIS, RABB, MALAGARI, DONATUCCI,
ROTHMAN, THOMAS, KINSEY, HILL-EVANS, ISAACSON, SCHLOSSBERG,
VITALI, DRISCOLL, BOBACK, CIRESI, SHUSTERMAN, DELLOSO,
SAPPEY, SIMS, McNEILL, STEPHENS, SCHMITT, MOUL, SAMUELSON,
O'MARA, HEFFLEY, HOHENSTEIN, SANCHEZ, HARRIS, YOUNGBLOOD,
GILLEN, DAWKINS, WILLIAMS, NEILSON, KRUEGER, MADDEN, MULLINS,
T. DAVIS, FITZGERALD, MERSKI, ULLMAN AND KIM,
JANUARY 30, 2020
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, JANUARY 30, 2020
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 20, 2002 (P.L.154, No.13), entitled
"An act reforming the law on medical professional liability;
providing for patient safety and reporting; establishing the
Patient Safety Authority and the Patient Safety Trust Fund;
abrogating regulations; providing for medical professional
liability informed consent, damages, expert qualifications,
limitations of actions and medical records; establishing the
Interbranch Commission on Venue; providing for medical
professional liability insurance; establishing the Medical
Care Availability and Reduction of Error Fund; providing for
medical professional liability claims; establishing the Joint
Underwriting Association; regulating medical professional
liability insurance; providing for medical licensure
regulation; providing for administration; imposing penalties;
and making repeals," in medical professional liability,
further providing for informed consent.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 504(b), (c) and (d)(1) of the act of
March 20, 2002 (P.L.154, No.13), known as the Medical Care
Availability and Reduction of Error (Mcare) Act, are amended and
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
the section is amended by adding a subsection to read:
Section 504. Informed consent.
* * *
(a.1) Examination.--
(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a health care provider,
including a student participating in a course of professional
instruction or clinical training program, may not knowingly
perform any of the following examinations on a patient who is
anesthetized or unconscious in a facility that provides
health care services unless the patient or the patient's
authorized representative provides specific informed consent,
in verbal and written form, prior to the examination:
(i) Pelvic examinations.
(ii) Rectal examinations.
(iii) Prostate examinations.
(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply if the examination is:
(i) within the scope of care ordered for the
patient;
(ii) court-ordered for the purpose of obtaining
evidence; or
(iii) necessary in cases of a medical emergency for
the purpose of diagnosis or treatment and the patient is
incapable of providing informed consent.
(b) Description of procedure or examination.--Consent is
informed if the patient has been given a description of a
procedure set forth in subsection (a) or of the examination set
forth in subsection (a.1) and the risks and alternatives that a
reasonably prudent patient would require to make an informed
decision as to that procedure or examination. The [physician]
health care provider shall be entitled to present evidence of
20200HB2246PN3228 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
the description of that procedure or examination and those risks
and alternatives that a [physician] health care provider acting
in accordance with accepted medical standards of medical
practice would provide.
(c) Expert testimony.--Expert testimony is required to
determine whether the procedure or examination constituted the
type of procedure or examination set forth in subsection (a) or
(a.1) and to identify the risks of that procedure or
examination, the alternatives to that procedure or examination
and the risks of these alternatives.
(d) Liability.--
(1) A [physician] health care provider is liable for
failure to obtain the informed consent only if the patient
proves that receiving such information would have been a
substantial factor in the patient's decision whether to
undergo a procedure or examination set forth in subsection
(a) or (a.1).
* * *
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
20200HB2246PN3228 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19