{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-214.185","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 214.185","heading":"Diagnosis and treatment of disease, addictions, or other conditions of","body":"minor -- Provision of outpatient mental health counseling -- Effective consent.\n(1) Any physician, upon consultation by a minor as a patient, with the consent of such\nminor may make a diagnostic examination for venereal disease, pregnancy, or\nsubstance use disorder and may advise, prescribe for, and treat such minor regarding\nvenereal disease, substance use disorder, contraception, pregnancy, or childbirth, all\nwithout the consent of or notification to the parent, parents, or guardian of such\nminor patient, or to any other person having custody of such minor patient.\nTreatment under this section does not include inducing of an abortion or\nperformance of a sterilization opera tion. In any such case, the physician shall incur\nno civil or criminal liability by reason of having made such diagnostic examination\nor rendered such treatment, but such immunity shall not apply to any negligent acts\nor omissions.\n(2) Any physician may pr ovide outpatient mental health counseling to any child age\nsixteen (16) or older upon request of such child without the consent of a parent,\nparents, or guardian of such child.\n(3) Any qualified mental health professional, as defined by KRS 202A.011, may\nprovide outpatient mental health counseling to any child who is age sixteen (16) or\nolder and is an unaccompanied youth, as defined by 42 U.S.C. sec. 11434a(6), upon\nrequest of such child without the consent of a parent, parents, or guardian of such\nchild.\n(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, and without limiting cases in which\nconsent may be otherwise obtained or is not required, any emancipated minor or any\nminor who has contracted a lawful marriage or borne a child may give consent to\nthe f urnishing of hospital, medical, dental, or surgical care to his or her child or\nhimself or herself and such consent shall not be subject to disaffirmance because of\nminority. The consent of the parent or parents of such married or emancipated\nminor shall not be necessary in order to authorize such care. For the purpose of this\nsection only, a subsequent judgment of annulment of marriage or judgment of\ndivorce shall not deprive the minor of his or her adult status once obtained. The\nprovider of care may look  only to the minor or spouse for payment for services\nunder this section unless other persons specifically agree to assume the cost.\n(5) Medical, dental, and other health services may be rendered to minors of any age\nwithout the consent of a parent or lega l guardian when, in the professional's\njudgment, the risk to the minor's life or health is of such a nature that treatment\nshould be given without delay and the requirement of consent would result in delay\nor denial of treatment.\n(6) The consent of a minor who represents that he or she may give effective consent for\nthe purpose of receiving medical, dental, or other health services but who may not\nin fact do so, shall be deemed effective without the consent of the minor's parent or\nlegal guardian, if the pe rson rendering the service relied in good faith upon the\nrepresentations of the minor.\n(7) The consent of a minor who represents that he or she may give effective consent for\nthe purpose of receiving outpatient mental health counseling from a qualified\nmental health professional, but who may not in fact do so, shall be deemed effective\nwithout the consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian if the person rendering\nthe service relied in good faith upon the representations of the minor after a\nreasonable attempt to obtain parental consent or to verify the minor's age and status\nas an unaccompanied youth.\n(8) The professional may inform the parent or legal guardian of the minor patient of any\ntreatment given or needed where, in the judgment of the professio nal, informing the\nparent or guardian would benefit the health of the minor patient.\n(9) Except as otherwise provided in this section, parents, the Cabinet for Health and\nFamily Services, or any other custodian or guardian of a minor shall not be\nfinancially responsible for services rendered under this section unless they are\nessential for the preservation of the health of the minor.","path":["KRS Chapter 214"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=50969","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:52:18Z","sha256":"8bfdb8ce8c12c5dbfbde16c0b32754dd303fffe363247d90f641bae6c3be726a","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-214.181","next":"us-ky/krs-214.187"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}