S.C. bill would require parental OK for teens’ prescriptions
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Right now, 16- and 17-year-olds in South Carolina can be prescribed medication without their parents’ approval.
Some lawmakers want to reverse that – to require parental or guardian consent for minors to get prescriptions filled.
But doctors say there could be unintended consequences.
Proposed legislation would require health care providers to immediately notify parents or guardians when they prescribe medication for minors. And pharmacies would have to get parental or guardian consent before they fill that prescription.
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“Children do not have the maturity, ability or knowledge to make life-altering decisions on their own,” said Larry Byrd, a Fort Mill grandparent. “They need parental involvement. How can the government or medical providers know the individual needs of our children?”
The bill had its first hearing Wednesday.
Pediatricians told senators they believe parents should be involved in their children’s health care. But they warn that enacting the legislation could have unintended consequences.
They spoke of situations in which 16- and 17-year-olds are sick and at the doctor’s office by themselves because their parents are at work. They might be unable to receive medication for their illness because the doctor can’t get in with their parent.
Or they fear teens would refuse to get tested for sexually transmitted infections because their parents would have to be notified and consent for them to be treated.
Pharmacists say they wouldn’t be able to physically fill prescriptions until the parent consents, which could back up their workflow and affect all prescriptions – including that child’s.
“If there is a delay, they may not come back and get that prescription for that minor, and so the efforts that have gone to treat an infection that could prevent from spreading at school — if it’s strep, which we know can go like wildfire — you will end up having those issues take place,” said Jennifer Baker of the South Carolina Pharmacy Association.
Senators on the subcommittee say they want to consider these concerns and potentially amend the bill before they decide whether they’ll advance it.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control says enacting the bill as it currently is could cause about a $10 million hit.
And officials say these requirements wouldn’t allow South Carolina to receive some money it’s getting right now from the federal government for family planning and STD services.
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