STAND. COM. REP. NO.533
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2003
RE: S.B. No. 624
S.D. 1
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2003
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 624 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INFORMED CONSENT,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to update the provisions relating to a health care provider's duty to inform a patient regarding medical treatment to provide consistency with the rules adopted by the Board of Medical Examiners (BME).
Your Committee received testimony supporting this measure from the BME, Hawaii Medical Association, HAPI's Physicians' Indemnity Plan, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons, Hawaii Medical Service Association, and two individuals. Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii (CLH) initially submitted testimony opposing this measure but requested that upon review of the testimony, CLH would be allowed to reevaluate its position.
Your Committee finds that Hawaii's laws relating to informed consent are outdated and has not kept up with the changing pace of the medical and legal communities. The existing statutory language originated from rules adopted by the BME in 1979. Since then, the BME has revised their rules many times to reflect the current legal and medical standards. Unfortunately, the statutes have yet to reflect the current standards and practices. Your Committee finds that this measure updates and revises statutory law to reflect current medical and legal standards and practices relating to informing a patient about medical treatments. In reviewing the proposed amendments, your Committee felt it was important to maintain the current patient-oriented standard of informed consent and not revert to a profession-oriented standard.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Replacing the phrase "is not competent" with the more appropriate phrase "lacks capacity" in section 671-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes;
(2) Clarifying that the information required to be disclosed to a patient prior to consenting to a proposed treatment or procedure shall be as provided in the statute;
(3) Clarifying that medically recognized substantial risks of serious complications or mortality must be disclosed;
(4) Deleting the ambiguous language that suggests a health care provider may make a subjective judgment to withhold information from a patient for the patient's best interest;
(5) Deleting the provisions allowing a patient to elect not to receive information required to be disclosed under the law; and
(6) Defining "legal surrogate" as an agent designated in a power of attorney for health care or surrogate designated or selected in accordance with chapter 327E, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 624, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 624, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,
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____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair |
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