Louisiana Made Parents the Default for Their Children's Medical Care, Melatonin Included

Who signs the form when your child needs care: you, or your child?

Before this session, Louisiana law let a minor who was, or believed himself to be, sick consent to medical care as if he were an adult. HB775 strikes that rule and makes the parent the starting point.

No healthcare provider may give medical or surgical care to anyone under the age of majority without consent from a parent, a legal guardian, or a caregiver acting at a parent's request, unless the law lists an exception.

The exceptions are specific. A minor can still consent alone if the minor is in the armed forces, emancipated, pregnant and seeking pregnancy-related care, seeking treatment for alcohol or substance misuse, seeking treatment for a sexually transmitted disease, donating blood, showing signs of abuse or neglect, voluntarily entering a treatment facility, or enrolled in a college or university (dual-enrolled high school students excluded). A minor can also still consent to contraceptives and to STD prevention and treatment. That exception does not cover a vaccine for an STD.

Parents gain a guaranteed right to their minor child's medical records. For a patient under 18, the law counts the parent, tutor, or legal guardian as the "patient" for records requests.

HB775 also repeals three older sections of law, including a school's or facility's authority to give a minor preventive counseling or treatment without parental consent. A provider who relies in good faith on a caregiver's claim of authority is protected from liability, except for negligence.

HB106 makes it a crime to give a child a melatonin sleep aid without the prior written consent of the child's parent or legal guardian. The penalty is a fine up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both. The law does not define "child" or "melatonin sleep aid," so courts or a future amendment will set those edges.

The HB775 exception list is the real boundary of parental authority. The contraceptive exception means a minor in Louisiana can still obtain birth control without a parent's consent. Any future change to that list moves the line in one direction or the other.

IPS supports both bills. HB775 returns the default decision to parents and opens the medical record to them. HB106 applies the same principle to a supplement many families keep in the kitchen cabinet.

Rep. Emily Chenevert (R) sponsored HB775 with twelve co-sponsors. It passed the House 94-0 and the Senate 28-7, and the House agreed to the Senate amendments 67-30. Governor Jeff Landry signed it June 9, 2026, as Act 835.

Rep. Vincent Cox III (R) sponsored HB106. It passed the House 87-5 and the Senate 32-0. Governor Landry signed it May 22, 2026, as Act 286. Both laws took effect August 1, 2026.

The question on the clinic form now has a default answer in Louisiana: ask the parent.

This is our read of the law. We encourage you to read it yourself and reach your own conclusions.