Bill Text: NY S00466 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

New York Senate Bill 466

Bill Title: Relates to the use of antipsychotic medications in nursing homes; imposes limits as to time and documentation; requires informed consent under certain circumstances.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-24 - PRINT NUMBER 466A [S00466 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S00466-Amended.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         466--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     January 4, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens. SEPULVEDA, WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health --  recom-
          mitted  to  the  Committee on Health in accordance with Senate Rule 6,
          sec. 8 -- reported favorably from said committee and committed to  the
          Committee  on  Aging  --  committee  discharged, bill amended, ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the use of psycho-
          tropic medications in nursing homes and adult care facilities

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The  public health law is amended by adding a new section
     2  280-d to read as follows:
     3    § 280-d. Use of antipsychotic medications in nursing  homes.    1.  As
     4  used in this section:
     5    (a)  "lawful representative" means, where a resident lacks capacity to
     6  consent to health care, a person authorized to consent on behalf of  the
     7  resident,  including, but not limited to, a health care agent authorized
     8  by a health care proxy under article twenty-nine-C of this chapter or  a
     9  surrogate under article twenty-nine-CC of this chapter; and
    10    (b)  "health  care  professional"  means  a  health care professional,
    11  licensed, certified or authorized to practice under title eight  of  the
    12  education  law,  acting  within  such  health care professional's lawful
    13  scope of practice, who has authority to order an  antipsychotic  medica-
    14  tion.
    15    2.  (a)  A nursing home or a health care professional shall obtain the
    16  informed consent of the resident  or  the  resident's  lawful  represen-
    17  tative, before initiating the administration of an antipsychotic medica-
    18  tion  for  a  resident,  provided  that  informed  consent  shall not be
    19  required in the case of:
    20    (i) a resident who has been  prescribed  an  antipsychotic  medication
    21  prior to an admission or readmission to the nursing home;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01548-09-4

        S. 466--A                           2

     1    (ii)  a  resident  who has previously provided informed consent within
     2  the last twelve months;
     3    (iii) a resident receiving hospice care;
     4    (iv) a resident of a nursing home's certified behavioral unit;
     5    (v) a resident with a primary diagnosis of Huntington's disease; or
     6    (vi) an emergency as defined in subdivision three of this section.
     7    (b)  Where  a  resident  lacks  capacity to consent to health care and
     8  lacks a lawful representative, a prescription under this  section  shall
     9  be  subject  to  subdivision four of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-
    10  four-g of this chapter as if the resident were an inpatient of a general
    11  hospital. To constitute informed consent, the following disclosure shall
    12  be given to the resident  or,  where  the  resident  lacks  capacity  to
    13  consent to health care, the resident's lawful representative, in a clear
    14  and explicit manner:
    15    (i)  the  reason for the medication, including the nature and serious-
    16  ness of the resident's illness, disorder or condition that  the  medica-
    17  tion is intended to treat;
    18    (ii)  the  anticipated  benefit  from  the medication, and the dosage,
    19  frequency, and duration of the order;
    20    (iii) the probability of side effects and  significant  risks  of  the
    21  medication,  including  the nature, degree, and duration of such effects
    22  and reasonably known risks;
    23    (iv) the reasonable alternative treatments to the proposed  medication
    24  and the reason that the prescribing health care professional prefers the
    25  proposed medication in this instance; and
    26    (v)  that  the  resident  or  lawful  representative  has the right to
    27  consent or refuse consent to use of the proposed medication, and that if
    28  such resident or lawful representative consents, such resident or lawful
    29  representative has the right to revoke such resident's or lawful  repre-
    30  sentative's consent for any reason, at any time, including a description
    31  of how the consent shall be revoked.
    32    (c)  The  health  care  professional  shall document in the resident's
    33  medical record the date and time that the  informed  consent  disclosure
    34  was provided, and to whom and by whom it was provided.
    35    (d) Where the resident's medical record notes that a family member has
    36  requested  notification  of medication orders or prescriptions, and such
    37  notification is otherwise lawful, the  health  care  professional  shall
    38  cause  notice to be provided within forty-eight hours of the order under
    39  this section. Such notice shall not be provided if the resident  specif-
    40  ically requests that the family member not be given notification.
    41    3. A nursing home and a health care professional shall not be required
    42  to  obtain  consent  under  this section to issue an order for use of an
    43  antipsychotic medication for a resident in a nursing home  where  it  is
    44  necessary  in an emergency to protect against an immediate threat to the
    45  life, health or safety of the resident or another person.   The  medica-
    46  tion  must  be  the  most  appropriate  available means of reducing that
    47  threat, with the least risk of harm considering the resident's condition
    48  or disorder. The order shall only apply,  in  the  absence  of  consent,
    49  during the emergency. Where an order is made under this subdivision, the
    50  health  care  professional shall immediately record the use of the anti-
    51  psychotic medication, the reason for the use, and  the  dosage,  in  the
    52  resident's medical record; and shall promptly notify the resident or the
    53  resident's  lawful  representative  who  would have had the authority to
    54  consent, and any family  member  required  to  be  notified  under  this
    55  section and record such notifications in the resident's medical record.

        S. 466--A                           3

     1    4.  This section does not increase the lawful scope of practice of any
     2  health care professional and does not diminish or impair any requirement
     3  for or regulation of consent to health care treatment.
     4    5. The commissioner may make regulations to implement this section.
     5    §  2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
     6  law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
     7  rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act  on  its
     8  effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
     9  effective date.