SB 832 (Robinson/Ervin): Clarifies that provisions of HB 2868 (see below) are not to be construed as prohibiting or discouraging telemedicine agreements between the Department of Corrections and private hospitals.

SB 840 (Henry/Deutschendorf): Amends the Oklahoma Rights of the Terminally Ill or Persistently Unconscious Act. Requires that the treating physician must comply with certain medical treatment decision before transferring the patient to a physician willing to comply with the patient's decision pursuant to the Act. Provides exception to the presumption of consent to cardiopulmonary resuscitation when a minor child's parents or guardians do not consent to the administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

SB 887 (Monson/Glover): Expands the list of required immunizations to include varicella or chicken pox vaccine. Allows the State Board of Health to promulgate rules to alter the list of required immunizations as needed. Adds haemophilus influenza type b (HIB) to the list of immunizations required before a minor child can be admitted to school.

SB 1013 (Rabon/Erwin): Requires the State Board of Health to develop minimum standards for residential care homes. Allows certified administrator of residential care home to request to be allowed to be placed in inactive status for up to five (5) years.

SB 1087 (Monson/Paulk): Amends the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. Requires any vascular organ sharing agreement to provide that vascular organs recovered in Oklahoma not be transferred out-of-state before such organs are offered and placed in an Oklahoma recipient. Stating requirements for transplantation transfer to out-of-state recipients.

SB 1117 (Monson/Seikel): Modifies terms of members of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority Board.

SB 1224 (Robinson/Seikel): Makes the health, safety and welfare of a child the paramount consideration in all DHS custody child proceedings. While family preservation continues to be an important goal, the Act specifies grounds for which efforts to reunite a family are not required. It further requires district attorneys to file a petition to terminate parental rights under certain conditions, such as when a child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, or when a child has been judicially determined to be an abandoned infant.

SB 1239 (Monson/Seikel): Eliminates smallpox from the list of immunizations required before a minor child can be admitted to school. Requires the State Department of Education and local school districts to release immunization records of certain school children to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which shall transmit such records to medical providers providing services to such children.

SB 1243 (Hendrick/Vaughn): "Assisted Suicide Prevention Act" -- Health care professionals who provide pain management that may increase the risk of death will not thereby violate the assisted suicide law unless an intent to cause death is present. As to assisted suicide, the bill provides for injunctive relief, civil action for compensatory and punitive damages, and attorney fees. It also provides for the suspension of licenses for health care professionals who assist in a suicide.

SB 1324 (Henry/Weaver): Creates until December 31, 1999, the Task Force on Crisis Services for Individuals with Disabilities to assess the needs of individuals and families at the onset of severe disability and to recommend system improvements to address immediate and extended needs of individuals and families in crisis due to the new acquisition of a disability from injury, illness or a progressive medical condition. A report of findings and recommendations is due November 1, 1999.

SB 1400 (Haney/Hamilton): Expands the list of required immunizations to include Hepatitis A. Allows the State Board of Health to promulgate rules to alter the list of required immunizations as needed.

HB 1641 (Davis/Snyder): Raises the age of consent for voluntary commitment to inpatient mental health treatment from fourteen (14) to sixteen (16) years of age.

HB 2313 (Eddins/Cain): Requires that health benefits plans providing hospitalization benefits provide coverage for anesthesia, hospital and ambulatory surgical and physician expenses associated with any medically necessary dental procedure when provided to severely disabled persons or minors eight years of age or under, when such person has a medical or emotional condition which requires hospitalization or general anesthesia for dental care.

HB 2826 (Mass/Stipe): Requires stringent background checks, including a national fingerprint search, for prospective foster parents. It also enables foster parents to more effectively integrate a child into the home environment and to treat a foster child as they would other children in the home. The Act further provides for additional training in parent-child conflict resolution and alternative behavior management techniques, to enable foster parents to better manage children who have behavioral problems.

HB 2868 (Ervin/Robinson): Establishes Telemedicine Advisory Council, designates State Department of Health as responsible for Oklahoma Telemedicine Network, moves Division of Health Care Information back to State Department of Health from Oklahoma Health Care Authority, and authorizes implementation of a telemedicine pilot program to provide verifiable data on how telemedicine can improve medical services for correctional inmate patients. The bill also creates an Advisory Task Force on SoonerCare.

HB 2905 (Boyd, Laura/Williams): Establishes a dual-track child protective services system in response to concerns over the number of investigated reports of child abuse or neglect that can neither be confirmed or ruled out. The Act allows DHS to conduct family assessments and arrange voluntary services for at-risk families intended to reduce the potential for future abuse or neglect, even if an allegation cannot be substantiated. The system places emphasis on providing services to families before serious abuse or neglect occurs. The measure also authorizes the Child Death Review Board to conduct case reviews of near-deaths of children resulting from child abuse or neglect.