Senate Bill 1610
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 1610
By Senator Diaz-Balart
37-869-00
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to treatment of forensic
3 clients; amending s. 916.107, F.S.; revising
4 guidelines for when a court order is necessary
5 in providing treatment to a forensic client of
6 the Department of Children and Family Services;
7 providing an effective date.
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9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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11 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
12 916.107, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
13 916.107 Rights of forensic clients.--
14 (3) RIGHT TO EXPRESS AND INFORMED CONSENT.--
15 (a) A client committed to the department pursuant to
16 this act shall be asked to give express and informed written
17 consent for treatment. If a client in a forensic facility
18 refuses such treatment with psychotropic medications as is
19 deemed necessary by the attending psychiatrist or the client's
20 multidisciplinary treatment team at the forensic facility for
21 the appropriate care of the client and the safety of the
22 client or others, such treatment may be provided without the
23 consent of the client under the following circumstances:
24 1. In the case of a new admission to the forensic
25 facility, or in a case in which a client withdraws consent
26 previously provided by the client, when the attending
27 psychiatrist on the client's multidisciplinary treatment team
28 at the forensic facility determines that psychotropic
29 medications are necessary and essential for the appropriate
30 treatment of the client, such medications an emergency
31 situation in which there is immediate danger to the safety of
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 1610
37-869-00
1 the client or others, such treatment may be provided upon the
2 written order of a physician for a period not to exceed 48
3 hours, excluding weekends and legal holidays. If, after the
4 48-hour period, the client has not given or is unable to give
5 express and informed consent to such medications the treatment
6 initially refused, the administrator or designee of the
7 forensic facility shall, within 48 hours, excluding weekends
8 and legal holidays, petition the committing court or the
9 circuit court serving the county in which the facility is
10 located, at the option of the facility administrator or
11 designee, for an order authorizing the medications deemed
12 necessary by the attending psychiatrist continued treatment of
13 the client. In the interim, once the petition has been filed
14 treatment may be continued upon the original physician's order
15 without the consent of the client until such time as the court
16 determines the issue upon the continued written order of a
17 physician who has determined that the emergency situation
18 continues to present a danger to the safety of the client or
19 others.
20 2. The order entered by the court authorizing the
21 psychotropic medications shall expire 6 months after the date
22 it is entered. If, during this 6-month period, an addition to
23 the previously approved medications is determined to be
24 necessary and essential by the attending psychiatrist and the
25 client remains unwilling or unable to give express and
26 informed consent, a new motion must be filed, a hearing must
27 be held, and an order approving such additions must be entered
28 before the change. In a situation other than an emergency
29 situation, the administrator or designee of the forensic
30 facility shall petition the court for an order authorizing the
31 treatment to the client. The order shall allow such treatment
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 1610
37-869-00
1 for a period not to exceed 90 days from the date of the entry
2 of the order. Unless the court is notified in writing that the
3 client has provided express and informed consent in writing or
4 that the client has been discharged by the committing court,
5 the administrator or designee shall, prior to the expiration
6 of the initial 6-month 90-day order, petition the court for an
7 order authorizing the continuation of the medications
8 treatment for another 6-month 90-day period. This procedure
9 shall be repeated until the client provides express and
10 informed consent or is discharged from the custody of the the
11 department by the committing court.
12 3. At the hearing on the issue of whether the court
13 should enter an order authorizing treatment for which a client
14 has refused to give express and informed consent, the court
15 shall determine by clear and convincing evidence that the
16 client is mentally ill, retarded, or autistic as defined in
17 this chapter, that the treatment not consented to is essential
18 to the care of the client, and that the treatment not
19 consented to is not experimental and does not present an
20 unreasonable risk of serious, hazardous, or irreversible side
21 effects. In arriving at the substitute judgment decision, the
22 court must consider at least the following factors:
23 a. The client's expressed preference regarding
24 treatment;
25 b. The probability of adverse side effects;
26 c. The prognosis without treatment; and
27 d. The prognosis with treatment.
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29 The hearing shall be as convenient to the client as may be
30 consistent with orderly procedure and shall be conducted in
31 physical settings not likely to be injurious to the client's
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 1610
37-869-00
1 condition. The court may appoint a master to preside at the
2 hearing. The client or the client's guardian, and the
3 representative, shall be provided with a copy of the petition
4 and the date, time, and location of the hearing. The client
5 has the right to have an attorney represent him or her at the
6 hearing, and, if the client is indigent, the court shall
7 appoint the office of the public defender to represent the
8 client at the hearing. The client may testify or not, as he
9 or she chooses, and has the right to cross-examine witnesses
10 and may present his or her own witnesses.
11 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
12 law.
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15 SENATE SUMMARY
16 Requires a hearing and court order when a forensic client
of the Department of Children and Family Services refuses
17 treatment with psychotropic medications or when a client
is newly admitted to a forensic facility. Requires a
18 rehearing if the client is found to need additional
medication. Limits the effective period of such an order
19 to 6 months.
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