Present law provides that if a child with serious emotional disturbance or mental illness is 16 or older, then the child has the same rights as an adult with respect to outpatient and inpatient mental health treatment, medication decisions, confidential information, and participation in conflict resolution procedures. This bill authorizes a minor's parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian to have access to the minor's prescription records resulting from treatment provided to the child for mental health services as long as the access does not violate such present law.
Present law authorizes an outpatient facility or professional to provide treatment and rehabilitation without obtaining the consent of the child's parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian. This bill authorizes a minor's parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian to have access to the minor's prescription records resulting from medical treatment to the minor, even when the minor is able to obtain treatment without parental consent. This provision applies to any treatment, including drug abusers who are minors; emergency treatment of minors; prenatal and peripartum care for minors; minors infected, diagnosed, or treated for an STD; and minors furnished with contraceptive supplies and information.
ON APRIL 1, 2024, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2773, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, enact the "Cassie Wright Act," as follows:
(1) If a service recipient is an unemancipated minor, authorizes the duty imposed on a professional to warn of violent behavior to be discharged by the professional or service provider by notifying the unemancipated minor's parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian and satisfying the following requirements: (i) informing the clearly identified victim of the threat; (ii) having the service recipient admitted on a voluntary basis to a hospital; (iii) taking steps to seek admission of the service recipient to a hospital or treatment resource on an involuntary basis pursuant to state law; or (iv) pursuing a course of action consistent with current professional standards that will discharge the duty;
(2) If a professional or service provider reports to law enforcement regarding a threat of bodily harm communicated by a service recipient who is an unemancipated minor, requires the professional to also report information about the threat to the unemancipated minor's parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian;
(3) In the context of the rights of a child 16 or older, authorizes a child's parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian to access any prescription records resulting from treatment provided to an unemancipated minor;
(4) Prohibits a child's parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian from accessing prescription records resulting from the treatment provided to an unemancipated minor if the treating professional is required to report abuse of the unemancipated minor and the treating professional believes that access to the prescription records is reasonably likely to endanger the life or physical safety of the minor;
(5) If an unemancipated minor communicates suicidal ideations to the treating professional, and the professional, using the reasonable skill, knowledge, and care ordinarily possessed and exercised by the professional's specialty under similar circumstances, has determined or reasonably should have determined that the unemancipated minor has the apparent ability to attempt suicide and is likely to attempt suicide unless prevented from doing so, requires the treating professional to, in addition to any other duties required by law, report such suicidal ideations to the unemancipated minor's parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian;
(6) If an unemancipated minor receives medical treatment, authorizes the minor's parent, legal guardian, legal custodian, or other person with medical decision-making authority for the unemancipated minor to access, and requires a healthcare provider or healthcare facility to provide access to, any prescription records resulting from medical treatment of the minor, even if the treatment was provided to the unemancipated minor without parental consent, including treatment provided pursuant to state law on STDs, contraceptives for minors, treatment for juvenile drug abuse, emergency treatment of minors, or prenatal or peripartum treatment of minors; and
(7) Prohibits a child's parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian from accessing prescription records resulting from the treatment provided to an unemancipated minor without parental consent, including treatment provided pursuant to state law on STDs, contraceptives for minors, treatment of juvenile drug abusers, emergency treatment of minors, prenatal or peripartum treatment of minors, if the treating professional is required to report abuse of the unemancipated minor and the treating professional believes that access to the prescription records is reasonably likely to endanger the life or physical safety of the minor.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 33-8-202