Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 85 amends the Persons with Mental Retardation Act to include a nurse in the list of individuals qualified to serve on a surrogate consent committee established to make treatment decisions for a client of an Intermediate Care Facility for the Mentally Retarded (ICF/MR) who lacks the capacity to make decisions and for whom no other surrogate decision-maker is available. The act requires that the application of an ICF/MR for a treatment decision for an incapacitated client include a description of generally accepted alternatives to the proposed treatment and the reasons the alternatives were rejected.

            In addition, the act requires the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, rather than a surrogate consent committee, to designate the chair of a surrogate consent committee and to provide consultation with a health care professional to assist the committee in determining the best interest of the client.