2017 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 13 - Courts and Court Procedure
Regulation of Actions and Proceedings
Article 20 - Actions
Part 4 - Written Informed Consent to Electroconvulsive Treatments
§ 13-20-401. Definitions
As used in this part 4, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Electroconvulsive treatment" means electroshock therapy, shock treatment, shock therapy, ECT, or EST and is the passage of electrical current through a patient's head in a voltage sufficient to induce a seizure.
(2) "Patient" means the person upon whom a proposed electroconvulsive treatment is to be performed; except that nothing in this part 4 supersedes the provisions of article 65 of title 27 or any rule adopted by the department of human services pursuant to section 27-65-116 (2) with regard to the care and treatment of any person unable to exercise written informed consent or of a person with a mental health disorder.
(3) "Physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy.
(4) "Sufficient information relating to the proposed electroconvulsive treatment" means information provided to the patient including, but not limited to, the following:
(a) The reason for such treatment;
(b) The nature of the procedures to be used in such treatment, including its probable frequency and duration;
(c) The probable degree and duration of improvement or remission expected with or without such treatment;
(d) The nature, degree, duration, and probability of the side effects and significant risks of such treatment commonly known by the medical profession, especially noting the possible degree and duration of memory loss, the possibility of permanent irrevocable memory loss, and the remote possibility of death;
(e) The reasonable alternative treatments and why the physician is recommending electroconvulsive treatment;
(f) That the patient has the right to refuse or accept the proposed treatment and has the right to revoke his consent for any reason at any time, either orally or in writing;
(g) That there is a difference of opinion within the medical profession on the use of electroconvulsive treatment.
(5) "Written informed consent" means consent to the proposed electroconvulsive treatment which a person knowingly and intelligently, without duress of any sort, clearly and explicitly manifests to the treating physician in writing and which is otherwise given in compliance with the provisions of this part 4.
