STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2967

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2232

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 2232, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to address the circumstances under which pelvic examinations may be performed by certain health care providers and medical students on anesthetized or unconscious female patients.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, University of Hawaii, Hawaii Medical Board, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, Planned Parenthood of Hawaii, and three individuals.

     Your Committee finds that informed consent for pelvic examinations is an issue of ethics and an important part of care.  The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Association of American Medical Colleges have condemned the practice of pelvic examinations on anesthetized or unconscious women as unacceptable and unethical.  Your Committee also finds that while it is important for medical students to learn how to correctly perform pelvic examinations, providing all patients with the opportunity to give prior informed consent where possible is an important ethical consideration in the provision of health care.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting extraneous legislative findings;

     (2)  Specifying that the students who are subject to the requirements of this measure are students that are participating in a course of instruction, residency program, or clinical training program, rather than medical students;

     (3)  Deleting the requirement that the physician, osteopathic physician, surgeon, or medical student have the patient's permission to be involved in the patient's care if the pelvic examination is already within the scope of care for the surgical procedure or diagnostic examination that is scheduled to be performed on the patient; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     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 H.B. No. 2232, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2232, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, M.D., Chair