BILL REQ. #: H-0712.1
State of Washington | 59th Legislature | 2005 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/19/2005. Referred to Committee on Children & Family Services.
AN ACT Relating to adding to the list of persons who may give informed consent to medical care for minors and providing immunity to health care providers and facilities for reliance on the representation of a person claiming to be responsible for the care of the minor; amending RCW 7.70.065; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 (1) It is the intent of the legislature to
assist children in the care of kin to access appropriate medical
services. Children being raised by kin have faced barriers to medical
care because their kinship caregivers have not been able to verify that
they are the identified primary caregivers of these children. Such
barriers pose an especially significant challenge to kinship caregivers
in dealing with health professionals when children are left in their
care.
(2) It is the intent of the legislature to assist kinship
caregivers in accessing appropriate medical care to meet the needs of
a child in their care by permitting such responsible adults who are
providing care to a child to give informed consent to medical care.
Sec. 2 RCW 7.70.065 and 2003 c 283 s 29 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) Informed consent for health care for a patient who is not
competent, as defined in RCW 11.88.010(1)(e), to consent may be
obtained from a person authorized to consent on behalf of such patient.
(a) Persons authorized to provide informed consent to health care
on behalf of a patient who is not competent to consent, based upon a
reason other than incapacity as defined in RCW 11.88.010(1)(d), shall
be a member of one of the following classes of persons in the following
order of priority:
(((a))) (i) The appointed guardian of the patient, if any;
(((b))) (ii) The individual, if any, to whom the patient has given
a durable power of attorney that encompasses the authority to make
health care decisions;
(((c))) (iii) The patient's spouse;
(((d))) (iv) Children of the patient who are at least eighteen
years of age;
(((e))) (v) Parents of the patient; and
(((f))) (vi) Adult brothers and sisters of the patient.
(((2))) (b) If the ((physician)) health care provider seeking
informed consent for proposed health care of the patient who is not
competent to consent under RCW 11.88.010(1)(e), other than a person
determined to be incapacitated because he or she is under the age of
majority and who is not otherwise authorized to provide informed
consent, makes reasonable efforts to locate and secure authorization
from a competent person in the first or succeeding class and finds no
such person available, authorization may be given by any person in the
next class in the order of descending priority. However, no person
under this section may provide informed consent to health care:
(((a))) (i) If a person of higher priority under this section has
refused to give such authorization; or
(((b))) (ii) If there are two or more individuals in the same class
and the decision is not unanimous among all available members of that
class.
(((3))) (c) Before any person authorized to provide informed
consent on behalf of a patient not competent to consent under RCW
11.88.010(1)(e), other than a person determined to be incapacitated
because he or she is under the age of majority and who is not otherwise
authorized to provide informed consent, exercises that authority, the
person must first determine in good faith that that patient, if
competent, would consent to the proposed health care. If such a
determination cannot be made, the decision to consent to the proposed
health care may be made only after determining that the proposed health
care is in the patient's best interests.
(2) Informed consent for health care for a patient who is not
competent, as defined in RCW 11.88.010(1)(e), because he or she is
under the age of majority and who is not otherwise authorized to
provide informed consent, may be obtained from a person authorized to
consent on behalf of such a patient.
(a) Persons authorized to provide informed consent to health care
on behalf of a patient who is incapacitated, as defined in RCW
11.88.010(1)(e), because he or she is under the age of majority and who
is not otherwise authorized to provide informed consent, shall be a
member of one of the following classes of persons in the following
order of priority:
(i) The appointed guardian of the minor patient, if any;
(ii) Parents of the minor patient; and
(iii) A competent adult representing himself or herself to be
responsible for the health care of such minor patient.
(b) A health care provider may, but is not required to, rely on the
representations of a person claiming to be responsible for the care of
the minor patient if the health care provider does not have actual
notice of the falsity of any of the statements made by the person
claiming to be responsible for the health care of the minor patient.
(c) A health care facility or a health care provider may, in its
discretion, require documentation of a person's claimed status as being
responsible for the health care of the minor patient. However, there
is no obligation to require such documentation.
(d) The health care provider or health care facility where services
are rendered shall be immune from suit in any action, civil or
criminal, or from professional or other disciplinary action based on
such reliance.
(3) For the purposes of this section, "health care provider" and
"health care facility" shall be defined as established in RCW
70.02.010.