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2026 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 37
BY SENATOR FESI
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To request the surgeon general to review Louisiana's informed consent laws and submit a
report to the legislature on whether any gaps exist in current laws.
WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while
there is a requirement for certain vaccine information to be given to a patient prior to an
immunization, there is no federal requirement for informed consent relating to
immunizations; and
WHEREAS, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, as amended,
created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, in response to lawsuits against
vaccine manufacturers and healthcare providers that threatened to cause vaccine shortages
and reduce vaccination rates; and
WHEREAS, one component of the program is a requirement for a healthcare
provider to provide a copy of the current Vaccine Information Statement (VIS) to the legal
representative of any child or to any other individual receiving certain vaccines; and
WHEREAS, while a VIS provides information, informed consent is an ethical and
legal process involving a discussion and explicit, voluntary patient permission to proceed
with any medical or surgical procedure, which may be required by state law; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana has uniform consent laws and medical consent laws as
provided for in R.S. 40:1157.1, et seq., that provide for the means for obtaining patient
consent and the persons eligible to give consent for a patient to receive surgical or medical
treatment; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Medical Disclosure Panel is established in R.S. 40:1157.2
to determine which risks and hazards related to medical care and surgical procedures must
be disclosed by a physician or other healthcare provider to a patient or person authorized to
consent for a patient and to establish the general form and substance of such disclosure; and
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SCR NO. 37 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, the panel is required to prepare separate lists of those medical
treatments and surgical procedures that do and do not require disclosure and, for those
treatments and procedures that do require disclosure, establish the degree of disclosure
required and the form in which the disclosure will be made; and
WHEREAS, the list of medical and surgical procedures requiring disclosures are
provided for in the Louisiana Administrative Code at LAC 48:I.2301 through 2463; and
WHEREAS, the Medical Disclosure Panel has not met since 2018, leaving the state
without a mechanism to update medical and surgical procedures that require disclosure.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
request the surgeon general to review Louisiana's informed consent laws and submit a report
to the legislature on whether any gaps exist in current law and any recommendations for
updates to Louisiana's informed consent process.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
surgeon general.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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