Texas lawmakers are taking aim at a boozy trend that has started to take hold in some Lone Star dentist’s offices.
As The Dallas Morning News reports, some dentists have been offering alcoholic beverages to patients while they wait to be seen. Last week Texas legislators called the new idea “appalling” and “irresponsible.”
In response, one Republican State Senator has introduced a bill, SB 404, which would penalize health care providers for offering alcoholic beverages to patients.
“I think [this is] a line that we can't cross,” said Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, the sponsor of the bill.
None of the dental offices who had been serving cocktails showed up to the public hearing to defend the practice. Lawmakers are concerned that drinking alcohol before a dental appointment can potentially cause medical complications and impair a patient's ability to consent to treatment.