NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4988
SPONSOR: Paulin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to informed consent
for procedures in the course of education or training
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To amend the public health law, in relation to informed consent for
procedures in the course of education or training
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one adds a new section 18-b to the public health law to state
that in case of any health care procedure or examination, the fact that
the procedure or examination is performed in the course of education or
training does not diminish the requirement for informed consent for the
procedure or examination.
Section two provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Informed consent is considered a standard practice in the field of medi-
cine. According to an article in Forbes on May 14, 2018, training physi-
cians are still routinely instructing medical students to practice
performing pelvic examinations on unconscious and anesthetized patients
who are undergoing surgery for training purposes only. Alarmingly, the
majority of patients are unaware that this practice is happening because
no informed consent was given prior to these examinations and no
documentation of the exams is kept. This practice of not requesting
informed consent for procedures and examinations for training purposes
only is not exclusive to pelvic exams on unconscious women and extends
to rectal and prostate exams on unconscious patients as well.
The importance of instilling the value of informed consent on medical
students cannot be underestimated. An article published by the American
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology indicated that while the majority
of first-year medical students were troubled by the idea of performing
pelvic exams on unconscious women without consent, their concerns about
this practice diminished by the time they graduated from medical school.
This "ethical erosion" has significant implications for how a physician
may treat patients in the future. A simple recommendation to avoid this
ethically-difficult situation is to ensure that students perform exam-
inations only after patients have given consent explicitly.
This is a gross violation of patients' rights. Already, California,
Virginia, Hawaii, Illinois, and Oregon have made it illegal to perform a
pelvic exam on a patient who is unconscious and anesthetized when the
patient has not given explicit consent to the examination.
This act captures all examinations and procedures in the course of
education or training. It requires informed consent for any health care
procedure or examination in the course of education or training.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None
FISCAL IMPLICATION:
None to the state.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4988
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 6, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, GOTTFRIED, GALEF, JAFFEE, HEVESI, D'URSO,
WOERNER, SIMOTAS, CRESPO, SEAWRIGHT, EPSTEIN, FAHY, WRIGHT, WALLACE,
SIMON, FERNANDEZ, ENGLEBRIGHT, MIKULIN, M. L. MILLER -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to informed consent
for procedures in the course of education or training
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 18-b to read as follows:
3 § 18-b. Procedures in the course of education or training; consent. In
4 the case of any health care procedure or examination, the fact that it
5 is performed in the course of education or training shall not diminish
6 the requirement for informed consent for the procedure or examination.
7 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09034-01-9
