SDCL § 22-22-26.4: Forensic medical examination--Protected person--Informed consent--Notification--Liability or discipline--Good faith determination.

A hospital or clinic may provide a forensic medical examination without the consent of a guardian of a protected person, as those terms are defined under § 29A-5-102, to any protected person who provides informed consent. If a patient has a guardian, the hospital or clinic must make a good faith effort to notify the guardian, before the forensic medical examination, that the patient provided informed consent for the examination and the examination will take place, unless the guardian is the suspected perpetrator.

If the attending physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or sexual assault nurse examiner makes a good faith determination that a patient is incapable of giving informed consent under this section, neither the physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or nurse examiner, nor the hospital or clinic, may be subject to criminal prosecution, civil liability, or professional discipline for failing to follow the patient's direction or for making the determination.

If the attending physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or sexual assault nurse examiner makes a good faith determination that a patient is capable of giving informed consent under this section, neither the physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or nurse examiner, nor the hospital or clinic, may be subject to criminal prosecution, civil liability, or professional discipline for following a patient's direction or for making the determination.

For purposes of this section, the term "informed consent" means consent voluntarily, knowingly, and competently given without any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, threat, or other form of coercion after conscientious explanation of all information that a reasonable person would consider significant to the decision in a manner reasonably comprehensible to general lay understanding.