House Health Committee advances bill to limit surgical smoke exposure in operating rooms

The House Health Committee on Friday reported House Bill 27 affirmatively, a measure that would require hospitals and surgery centers to adopt policies to limit staff and patient exposure to smoke produced during surgeries.

The bill, sponsored by Representatives Khan and Bonner, directs facilities to create smoke-mitigation policies in collaboration with doctors and nurses and to balance the risks of each procedure with steps to reduce smoke exposure.

Committee staff summarized the measure as a requirement that “hospitals and surgery centers adopt and implement policies to limit exposure to the smoke produced during surgeries,” and said policies must be created in collaboration with clinicians and “balance risks related to the procedure with the mitigation of smoke.”

Representative Khan, who identified herself as a nurse and a sponsor of the bill, described workplace exposure concerns: “I am a nurse. I didn't appreciate how prevalent smoke can be in operating rooms. The effects of, of a a nurse or a hospital worker that's in the OR that's breathing in these fumes in the course of a 12 hour shift can be the equivalent of smoking about a pack and a half of cigarettes.”

Khan and other sponsors said the bill does not mandate a specific device; instead it requires facilities to have a smoke-mitigation system and to develop policies with clinical input so that mitigation fits the procedure and protects staff and patients.

Representative Frio moved to consider the bill and Representative Sanchez seconded the motion. After a roll call, the committee reported House Bill 27 affirmatively.

The committee chair noted there had been previous discussion of the bill in an earlier session and described this version as a cooperative product that addresses concerns raised by physician groups about implementation.

House Bill 27 will be forwarded out of committee for further consideration by the full House.