Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official source posted by the Massachusetts General Court, fetched 2026-07-15. Nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
Notwithstanding any special or General law to the contrary: If a petition for civil commitment of a patient defined by Massachusetts General Law Ch. 123, Section 35 is made while the individual is in a hospital setting, the individual and their independent counsel may participate in the subsequent court hearing remotely; a court ordered evaluation pursuant to this section may be performed remotely; and no discharge of a patient who has suffered an overdose or who required the administration of an opioid antagonist shall be discharged from a medical facility until an evaluation by a licensed social worker has taken place and a meeting with a recovery coach and navigator has taken place; the discharge of a patient from a public health facility licensed under said section shall not be granted unless approved by the judge who issued the order for civil commitment;
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