By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1448

(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2011; March 22, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services; May 6, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 6, 2011, sent to printer.)

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to consent for treatment for chemical dependency in a treatment facility and required training for the facility's intake personnel.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subsections (e) and (g), Section 462.009, Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:

(e) Consent given by a patient or by a person authorized by law to consent to treatment on the patient's behalf for the administration of a medication, therapy, or treatment is valid only if:

(1) the consent is given voluntarily and without coercive or undue influence;

(2) before administration of the medication, therapy, or treatment, the treating physician or a psychologist, social worker, professional counselor, or chemical dependency counselor explains to the patient and to the person giving consent, in simple, nontechnical language:

(A) the specific condition to be treated;

(B) the beneficial effects on that condition expected from the medication, therapy, or treatment;

(C) the probable health and mental health consequences of not consenting to the medication, therapy, or treatment;

(D) the side effects and risks associated with the medication, therapy, or treatment;

(E) the generally accepted alternatives to the medication, therapy, or treatment, if any, and whether an alternative might be appropriate for the patient; and

(F) the proposed course of the medication, therapy, or treatment; and

(3) the informed consent is evidenced in the patient's clinical record by a signed form prescribed by the commission for this purpose or by a statement of the treating physician or the psychologist, social worker, professional counselor, or chemical dependency counselor that documents that consent was given by the appropriate person and the circumstances under which the consent was obtained.

(g) Consent given by a patient or by a person authorized by law to consent to treatment on the patient's behalf applies to a series of doses of medication or to multiple therapies or treatments for which consent was previously granted. If the treating physician or the psychologist, social worker, professional counselor, or chemical dependency counselor obtains new information relating to a medication, therapy, or treatment for which consent was previously obtained, the physician or the psychologist, social worker, professional counselor, or chemical dependency counselor must explain the new information and obtain new consent.

SECTION 2. Subsection (e), Section 462.025, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(e) In accordance with commission rule, a treatment facility shall provide [annually] a minimum of eight hours of inservice training regarding intake and assessment for persons who will be conducting an intake or assessment for the facility. A person may not conduct intake or assessments without having completed the [initial and applicable annual] inservice training.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.

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