WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2022 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

House Bill 4708

By Delegates Walker, Fleischauer, Zukoff, and Young

[Introduced February 15, 2022; Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §16-5DD-1, relating to requiring primary care physicians to provide disclosures to patients regarding triple negative breast cancer.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

Article 5DD. Triple negative breast cancer Disclosures.

§16-5DD-1. Triple negative breast cancer findings and required disclosure.

(a) Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for about 10 to15 percent of all breast cancers. The term triple-negative breast cancer refers to the fact that the cancer cells don’t have estrogen or progesterone receptors (ER or PR) and also don’t make any or too much of the protein called HER2. These cancers tend to be more common in women younger than age 40, who are Black, or who have a BRCA1 mutation. TNBC differs from other types of invasive breast cancer in that it grows and spreads faster, has limited treatment options, and has a worse prognosis than a majority of other breast cancers.

(b) It is crucial to make women aware of the threat of this particular type of breast cancer. All primary care physicians in the state of West Virginia are required to counsel their female patients about Triple Negative Breast Cancer, its signs and symptoms, the difference between TNBC and other cancers, and treatments.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require primary care physicians to provide disclosures to patients regarding triple negative breast cancer.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.