1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to civil actions; requiring physicians to 
  1.3             disclose all information regarding any errors in the 
  1.4             diagnosis, care, or treatment of their patients or 
  1.5             residents; providing civil penalties and remedies; 
  1.6             amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 144.651, 
  1.7             subdivision 9; and 144.652, by adding a subdivision. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 144.651, 
  1.10  subdivision 9, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 9.  [INFORMATION ABOUT TREATMENT.] Patients and 
  1.12  residents shall be given by their physicians complete and 
  1.13  current information concerning their diagnosis, treatment, 
  1.14  alternatives, risks, and prognosis as required by the 
  1.15  physician's legal duty to disclose, as well as all information 
  1.16  regarding any errors which may have been committed in the 
  1.17  diagnosis, care, or treatment provided.  This information shall 
  1.18  be in terms and language the patients or residents can 
  1.19  reasonably be expected to understand.  Patients and residents 
  1.20  may be accompanied by a family member or other chosen 
  1.21  representative. This information shall include the likely 
  1.22  medical or major psychological results of the treatment and its 
  1.23  alternatives, and the likely medical or psychological 
  1.24  consequences of any errors committed in the course of the 
  1.25  diagnosis, care, or treatment provided.  In cases where it is 
  1.26  medically inadvisable, as documented by the attending physician 
  2.1   in a patient's or resident's medical record, the information 
  2.2   shall be given to the patient's or resident's guardian or other 
  2.3   person designated by the patient or resident as a 
  2.4   representative.  Individuals have the right to refuse this 
  2.5   information.  
  2.6      Every patient or resident suffering from any form of breast 
  2.7   cancer shall be fully informed, prior to or at the time of 
  2.8   admission and during her stay, of all alternative effective 
  2.9   methods of treatment of which the treating physician is 
  2.10  knowledgeable, including surgical, radiological, or 
  2.11  chemotherapeutic treatments or combinations of treatments and 
  2.12  the risks associated with each of those methods. 
  2.13     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 144.652, is 
  2.14  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.15     Subd. 3.  [INFORMATION REGARDING MEDICAL ERRORS; PENALTIES 
  2.16  AND REMEDIES.] A person who is found to have violated the duty 
  2.17  imposed under section 144.651, subdivision 9, to inform patients 
  2.18  and residents of all information regarding any errors committed 
  2.19  is subject to the penalties and remedies in section 8.31. 
  2.20     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.21     Sections 1 and 2 are effective the day following final 
  2.22  enactment.