a parental rights bill that allows access to the minor’s prescription records even when the minor is able to obtain treatment without parental consent
Our Stand: At-A-Glance
Update! April 1, 2024
- UPDATE: The bills will be heard on both the House and Senate floor Monday, April 1st at about 3pm. As we explained last week, an amendment was filed and passed in both chambers that drastically changed the bill. After a close reading, we support its passage. It amends a section of Mental Health and Substance Abuse law, and it is in honor of a teen who lost her life in 2019. Prescription drugs are known to increase the risk of suicide, and other prescriptions can indicate a minor child is potentially in crisis. This bill allows parents access to their minor child’s prescription records, even if under TN law the minor was able to access the medical care and prescription without parental knowledge or consent. The bill also contains a “duty to warn.”
- Contact your Representative and Senator and ask them to support the bill!
- HB 2773 / SB 2482 requires that a minor’s parent or legal guardian have access to the minor’s prescription records even when the minor is able to obtain treatment without parental consent.
- Parents know best what is best for their children, they know their medical records, their allergies, etc. It’s so important for a parent to know what their child is taking.
- This is not just a matter of parental rights but of safety.
- If parents are unaware of prescription medicines their minor child is on, they cannot properly respond or provide the correct medical support needed to any symptoms they witness that might be side effects or serious adverse reactions. They cannot take proper precautions to ensure any food or medicines they provide to their child are safe to give when the child is taking a prescription medicine.
Contact your own Representative and Senator and ask them to support this bill (to find out who they are click here).