Existing law establishes the Medical Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs to enforce the licensing and regulatory provisions relating to medical practitioners, including physicians and surgeons. Existing law requires a physician and surgeon primarily responsible for providing a patient an annual gynecological examination to provide that patient, during the annual examination in layperson’s language and in a language understood by the patient, a standardized summary containing a description of the symptoms and appropriate methods of diagnoses for gynecological cancers. Existing law makes a failure to provide that information punishable by citation and an administrative fine.
This bill, on or before July 1, 2020, would require the board, in coordination with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, to develop
an informational pamphlet for patients undergoing gynecological examinations that includes specified information, including what a Pap smear is and how it is performed and privacy expectations for patients. The bill would require the board to make the information sheet available for the use of licensees that perform gynecological examinations, as specified.
The bill, commencing one month after the board makes the informational pamphlet available, would require a physician and surgeon primarily responsible for providing a patient an annual gynecological examination, to provide a patient with the informational pamphlet prior to a patient’s first gynecological examination with that practitioner. The bill would require the practitioner to have the patient sign and date a form attesting that the patient has received the informational pamphlet and understood the contents prior to the first gynecological examination with that practitioner. The bill would make a violation
of these provisions punishable by citation and an administrative fine.