Senate Bill S7954

                                BILL NUMBER:S7954

TITLE OF BILL:

An act
to amend the public health law, in relation to HIV testing of certain
persons who may be the source of an occupational exposure of another
person

PURPOSE:

Eliminates certain disclosure and consent requirements for HIV testing
of individuals, when another person has a significant risk of
occupation exposure.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Amends section 2781 of the public health law paragraphs (c)
and (d) to make technical corrections.

Amends section 2781 of the public health law to add a paragraph (e)
which will provide that in certain specified situations of
occupational exposure which create a significant risk of contracting
or transmitting HIV infection in an exposed person, a provider shall
order an anonymous HIV test of the source person and the results of
the anonymous test shall only be disclosed to the attending health
              

care professional of the exposed person solely for the purpose of
assisting the exposed person in making appropriate decisions
regarding post-exposure medical treatment.

EXISTING LAW:

PHL § 2134 requires that disclosure of medical information, including
a diagnosis of HIV infection, may be made only to (a) the protected
individual, (b) the municipal health commissioner or district health
officer if such commissioner or officer is not the examining
physician, and (c) without specifically revealing the identity of the
protected individual, contacts defined pursuant to subdivision ten of
section twenty-seven hundred eighty of the PHL.

PHL § 2135 requires that any HIV information obtained by DOH or any
municipal health officer must be maintained as confidential, except
as otherwise required by law.

PHL § 2138 ensures that nothing provided for in Article twenty one
shall be interpreted to eliminate the anonymous testing option
provided for in section twenty seven hundred eighty-one.

PHL § 2781 requires written, informed consent before any HIV related
test may be ordered, and a physician or other practitioner must
verify that consent was received before ordering that such test be

performed. The written, informed consent consists of a statement
signed by the subject of the test which explains, among other things,
the purpose of the test and the applicable confidentiality protections.

PHL § 2782 prohibits persons who obtain confidential HIV related
information from disclosing such information, with certain
exceptions. In those circumstances when disclosure is authorized, it
must be accompanied by a statement advising that further disclosure
without consent is prohibited.

PHL § 2786 requires the Commissioner to develop forms for informed
consent for HIV related testing arid disclosure of confidential
related information.

JUSTIFICATION:

During the current legislative session, proposed language regarding
occupational exposure can only be found within broad legislation
introduced as Departmental Bill #56 (#1 2009). It is of the
utmost
importance that we extract this language from the Departmental Bill
due to the concerns of medical professionals and health care
providers. Ever since the Departmental Bill was introduced, doctors,
nurses, and staff of health facilities have requested that this
language be advocated for. Everyday our medical personnel and first
responders put their health and safety at risk in order to assist our
communities. While preventing exposures to blood and bodily fluids is
the most effective means of preventing occupationally acquired Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, post exposure management, as
well as source testing, are important and essential steps in
occupational exposure treatment.

The federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009,
signed into law on October 30, 2009, reinstated previous provisions
for notification of possible exposure of emergency responders to
infectious diseases that had been included in the federal Ryan White
law from 1990 until 2006, but had remained absent from law in the
interim. The new federal Part G, however, does not automatically
reinstate the list of infectious diseases that existed before 2006,
and the Department of Health and Human Services has not yet developed
a new list to implement the part. New York State currently regulates
access to protected information related to the HIV infection status
of source patients by New York State Regulation, Section 63.8 of
Title 10, however, there is no codification of occupational exposure
procedures.

In an effort to streamline these provisions and afford more New
Yorkers and health care workers the ability to protect themselves
from occupational exposure, this bill would specifically
define the instances and procedures required to be followed when an
occupational exposure event occurs, particularly when the source is
deceased, comatose, or lacking mental capacity.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect September 1, 2010; provided, however, that
effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on
its effective date are authorized and directed to be made and
completed on or before such effective date.