PRINTER'S NO. 711
No. 645 Session of 1995
INTRODUCED BY ADOLPH, L. I. COHEN, RAYMOND, CIVERA, KUKOVICH, PITTS, PESCI, CLARK, BEBKO-JONES, RUBLEY, ROONEY, TIGUE, JOSEPHS, RUDY, FICHTER, TRELLO, DeLUCA, HENNESSEY, MELIO, TRUE, MILLER, MICOZZIE, LAUGHLIN, ITKIN, KELLER, E. Z. TAYLOR, YOUNGBLOOD, STEELMAN, PETTIT, FAIRCHILD, McCALL, PISTELLA, THOMAS, KIRKLAND AND RICHARDSON, FEBRUARY 7, 1995
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, FEBRUARY 7, 1995
AN ACT 1 Amending the act of December 18, 1984 (P.L.1068, No.213), 2 entitled, as amended, "An act requiring physicians to obtain 3 informed consent from patients for treatment of breast 4 disease," expanding the act to cover breast reconstructive 5 surgery; and conferring powers and duties on the Department 6 of Health and the Legislative Reference Bureau. 7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 8 hereby enacts as follows: 9 Section 1. The title of the act of December 18, 1984 10 (P.L.1068, No.213), entitled, as amended, "An act requiring 11 physicians to obtain informed consent from patients for 12 treatment of breast disease," amended October 9, 1986 (P.L.1417, 13 No.131), is amended to read: 14 AN ACT 15 Requiring physicians to obtain informed consent from patients 16 for treatment of breast disease and for breast reconstructive 17 surgery.
1 Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read: 2 Section 1.1 (a) Before a physician performs breast 3 reconstructive surgery, the physician must obtain a summary and 4 consent form under subsection (b) executed by the patient. 5 (b) The Department of Health shall develop a standardized 6 summary and consent form in plain, nontechnical language 7 explaining breast reconstructive surgery. The explanation shall 8 include the use, characteristics, side effects and risks of 9 breast implants and other pertinent information to aid a patient 10 in deciding on a course of treatment. The Department of Health 11 shall make the form available to physicians in this 12 Commonwealth. 13 Section 3. When the form required by section 1.1(b) of the 14 act is available, the Department of Health shall submit notice 15 of availability to the Legislative Reference Bureau for 16 publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. 17 Section 4. This act shall take effect as follows: 18 (1) The addition of section 1.1(a) of the act shall take 19 effect on the date of publication of the notice under section 20 3 of this act. 21 (2) The remainder of this act shall take effect in 60 22 days. L15L35VDL/19950H0645B0711 - 2 -