(a) As used in this section and sections 19a-112f and 19a-112g:
(1) “Emergency contraception” means one or more prescription drugs used separately or in combination administered to or self-administered by a patient to prevent pregnancy, within a medically recommended amount of time after sexual intercourse and provided for that purpose, in accordance with professional standards of practice, and determined to be safe by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
(2) “Emergency treatment” means any medical examination or treatment provided in a licensed health care facility to a victim of sexual assault following an alleged sexual assault.
(3) “Medically and factually accurate and objective” means verified or supported by the weight of research conducted in compliance with accepted scientific methods and published in peer-reviewed journals, where applicable.
(4) “Victim of sexual assault” means any person who alleges or is alleged to have suffered an injury as a result of a sexual offense.
(5) “Sexual offense” means a violation of section 53a-70b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2019, or subsection (a) of section 53a-70 or section 53a-70a, subsection (a) of section 53a-71, section 53a-72a or 53a-72b, subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 53a-86, subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 53a-87 or section 53a-90a, 53a-196a or 53a-196b.
(6) “Independent provider” means a physician licensed under chapter 370, a physician assistant licensed under chapter 370, an advanced practice registered nurse or registered nurse licensed under chapter 378, or a nurse-midwife licensed under chapter 377, all of whom are trained and certified pursuant to the certification process implemented by the Chief Court Administrator pursuant to subsection (c) of section 19a-112f to conduct a forensic exam in accordance with the state of Connecticut Technical Guidelines for Health Care Response to Victims of Sexual Assault, published by the Commission on the Standardization of the Collection of Evidence in Sexual Assault Investigations pursuant to section 19a-112a.
(7) “Sexual assault forensic examiner” means a physician or physician assistant licensed pursuant to chapter 370, a registered nurse or advanced practice registered nurse licensed pursuant to chapter 378 or nurse midwife licensed pursuant to chapter 377 who has successfully completed the certification process and met all continuing education and recertification requirements implemented by the Chief Court Administrator pursuant to subsection (c) of section 19a-112f.
(8) “Sexual assault nurse examiner” means a registered nurse or an advanced practice registered nurse licensed pursuant to chapter 378 who has provided care and treatment to a victim of sexual assault and collected evidence from said victim without successfully completing the training and certification process implemented by the Chief Court Administrator pursuant to subsection (c) of section 19a-112f.
(9) “Health care facility” means (A) a hospital licensed under chapter 368v that has an emergency department, including any free-standing emergency department, or (B) an infirmary operated by The University of Connecticut at Storrs.
(b) The standard of care for each health care facility that provides emergency treatment to a victim of sexual assault shall include promptly:
(1) Providing each victim of sexual assault with medically and factually accurate and objective information relating to emergency contraception;
(2) Informing such victim of sexual assault of the availability of emergency contraception, its use and efficacy; and
(3) Providing emergency contraception to such victim of sexual assault at the facility upon the request of such victim, except that a health care facility shall not be required to provide emergency contraception to a victim of sexual assault who has been determined to be pregnant through the administration of a pregnancy test approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
(c) In order to comply with the standard of care requirements prescribed in subsection (b) of this section, a health care facility shall: (1) Ensure compliance at the facility with the standard of care requirements prescribed in said subsection (b), and (2) conduct at the facility a forensic exam of the sexual assault victim in accordance with the state of Connecticut Technical Guidelines for Health Care Response to Victims of Sexual Assault, published by the Commission on the Standardization of the Collection of Evidence in Sexual Assault Investigations pursuant to section 19a-112a. A health care facility may contract with one or more independent providers who has been certified as a sexual assault forensic examiner pursuant to the certification process implemented by the Chief Court Administrator pursuant to subsection (c) of section 19a-112f.
(d) No health care facility that provides emergency treatment to a victim of sexual assault shall determine such facility's protocol for complying with the standard of care requirements prescribed in subsection (b) of this section on any basis other than a pregnancy test approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
(e) No person shall use the title “sexual assault forensic examiner” or “sexual assault nurse examiner”, or any variant of such titles, without successfully completing the certification requirements imposed by the Chief Court Administrator pursuant to subsection (c) of section 19a-112f.
(P.A. 07-24, S. 1; P.A. 19-114, S. 2; 19-118, S. 43, 44; 19-189, S. 8.)
History: P.A. 19-114 amended Subsec. (a) by adding references to Secs. 19a-112f and 19a-112g, redefining “victim of sexual assault” in Subdiv. (4), redefining “independent provider” in Subdiv. (6) and adding Subdivs. (7) and (8) defining “sexual assault forensic examiner” and “health care facility”, respectively, amended Subsec. (c) by replacing “may contract with one or more independent providers to” with “shall”, and adding provision permitting health care facility to contract with one or more sexual assault forensic examiners, added Subsec. (e) re use of sexual assault forensic examiner title and made technical changes, effective July 1, 2019; P.A. 19-118 amended Subsec. (a) by adding Subdiv. (8) defining “sexual assault nurse examiner” and redesignating existing Subdiv. (8) as Subdiv. (9), and amended Subsec. (e) by adding reference to sexual assault nurse examiner and making technical changes, effective July 1, 2019; P.A. 19-189 amended Subsec. (a)(5) by replacing “53a-70b” with “section 53a-70b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2019” and made technical changes.