SB0212 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB096 04753 RPM 14817 b

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
SB0212

Introduced 2/3/2009___________, by

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

410 ILCS 325/3	from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 7403
410 ILCS 325/6	from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 7406

Amends the Illinois Sexually Transmissible Disease Control Act. Adds definitions for "health care professional" and "expedited partner therapy". Provides that the Department of Public Health shall provide information and technical assistance as appropriate to health care professionals who provide expedited partner therapy services for persons with sexually transmissible diseases. Provides that a health care professional who makes a clinical diagnosis of chlamydia or gonorrhea may prescribe, dispense, furnish, or otherwise provide prescription antibiotic drugs to the infected person's sexual partner or partners without physical examination of the partner or partners, if in the judgment of the health care professional, the partner is unlikely or unable to present for comprehensive health care. Provides that the health care professional shall provide counseling for the patient and written materials to be given by the patient to the partner or partners. Provides that a health care professional providing expedited partner therapy in good faith without fee or compensation and providing counseling and written materials shall not be subject to civil or professional liability, except for willful and wanton misconduct. Makes other changes.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning public health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Sexually Transmissible Disease Control Act is amended by changing Sections 3 and 6 as follows:

(410 ILCS 325/3) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 7403)

Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(1) "Department" means the Department of Public Health.

(2) "Local health authority" means the full-time official health department of board of health, as recognized by the Department, having jurisdiction over a particular area.

(3) "Sexually transmissible disease" means a bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic disease, determined by rule of the Department to be sexually transmissible, to be a threat to the public health and welfare, and to be a disease for which a legitimate public interest will be served by providing for regulation and treatment. In considering which diseases are to be designated sexually transmissible diseases, the Department shall consider such diseases as chancroid, gonorrhea, granuloma inguinale, lymphogranuloma venereum, genital herpes simplex, chlamydia, nongonococcal urethritis (NGU), pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)/Acute Salpingitis, syphilis, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) for designation, and shall consider the recommendations and classifications of the Centers for Disease Control and other nationally recognized medical authorities. Not all diseases that are sexually transmissible need be designated for purposes of this Act.

(4) "Health care professional" means a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches, a physician assistant who has been delegated the provision of sexually transmissible disease therapy services or expedited partner therapy services by his or her supervising physician, or an advanced practice nurse who has a written collaborative agreement with a collaborating physician that authorizes the provision of sexually transmissible disease therapy services or expedited partner therapy services, or an advanced practice nurse who practices in a hospital or ambulatory surgical treatment center and possesses appropriate clinical privileges in accordance with the Nurse Practice Act.

(5) "Expedited partner therapy" means to prescribe, dispense, furnish, or otherwise provide prescription antibiotic drugs to the partner or partners of persons clinically diagnosed as infected with a sexually transmissible disease, without physical examination of the partner or partners.

(Source: P.A. 85-1209.)

(410 ILCS 325/6) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 7406)

Sec. 6. Physical examination and treatment.

(a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of this Section, the Department and its authorized representatives may examine or cause to be examined persons reasonably believed to be infected with or to have been exposed to a sexually transmissible disease.

(b) Subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of this Section, persons with a sexually transmissible disease shall report for complete treatment to a physician licensed under the provisions of the Medical Practice Act of 1987, or shall submit to treatment at a facility provided by a local health authority or other public facility, as the Department shall require by rule or regulation until the disease is noncommunicable or the Department determines that the person does not present a real and present danger to the public health. This subsection (b) shall not be construed to require the Department or local health authorities to pay for or provide such treatment.

(c) No person shall be apprehended, examined or treated for a sexually transmissible disease against his will, under the provisions of this Act, except upon the presentation of a warrant duly authorized by a court of competent jurisdiction. In requesting the issuance of such a warrant the Department shall show by a preponderance of evidence that the person is infectious and that a real and present danger to the public health and welfare exists unless such warrant is issued and shall show that all other reasonable means of obtaining compliance have been exhausted and that no other less restrictive alternative is available. The court shall require any proceedings authorized by this subsection (c) to be conducted in camera. A record shall be made of such proceedings but shall be sealed, impounded and preserved in the records of the court, to be made available to the reviewing court in the event of an appeal.

(d) Any person who knowingly or maliciously disseminates any false information or report concerning the existence of any sexually transmissible disease under this Section is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

(e) Taking into account the recommendations of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other nationally recognized medical authorities, the Department shall provide information and technical assistance as appropriate to health care professionals who provide expedited partner therapy services for persons with sexually transmissible diseases.

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a health care professional who makes a clinical diagnosis of chlamydia or gonorrhea may prescribe, dispense, furnish, or otherwise provide prescription antibiotic drugs to the infected person's sexual partner or partners for the treatment of the sexually transmissible disease without physical examination of the partner or partners, if in the judgment of the health care professional the partner is unlikely or unable to present for comprehensive healthcare, including evaluation, testing, and treatment for sexually transmissible diseases. Expedited partner therapy shall be limited to partners who may have been exposed to a sexually transmissible disease within the previous 60 days, if the patient is able to contact the partner.

(2) Health care professionals who provide expedited partner therapy shall comply with Sections 4 and 5 of the Illinois Sexually Transmissible Disease Control Act.

(3) Health care professionals who provide expedited partner therapy shall provide counseling for the patient and written materials provided by the Department to be given by the patient to the partner or partners that include at a minimum the following:

(A) a warning that a woman who is pregnant or might be pregnant must not take certain antibiotics and must immediately contact a health care professional for an examination, and a recommendation for such an examination;

(B) information about the antibiotic and dosage provided or prescribed; clear and explicit allergy and side effect warnings, including a warning that a partner who has a history of allergy to the antibiotic or the pharmaceutical class of antibiotic must not take the antibiotic and must be immediately examined by a health care professional, and a recommendation for such an examination;

(C) information about the treatment and prevention of sexually transmissible diseases;

(D) the requirement of abstinence until a period of time after treatment to prevent infecting others;

(E) notification of the importance of the partner or partners of the patient to receive examination and testing for HIV and other sexually transmissible diseases, and available resources;

(F) notification of the risk to self, others, and the public health if the sexually transmissible disease is not completely and successfully treated;

(G) the responsibility of the partner or partners to inform his or her sex partner or partners of the risk of sexually transmissible disease and the importance of prompt examination and treatment; and

(H) other information as deemed necessary by the Department.

(4) The Department shall develop and disseminate in electronic and other formats the following written materials:

(A) informational materials for partners, as required in item (3) of this subsection (e);

(B) informational materials for persons who are repeatedly diagnosed with sexually transmissible diseases; and

(C) guidance for health care professionals on the safe and effective provision of expedited partner therapy.

The Department may offer educational programs about expedited partner therapy for health care professionals and pharmacists licensed under the Pharmacy Practice Act.

(5) A health care professional prescribing, dispensing, furnishing, or otherwise providing in good faith without fee or compensation prescription antibiotics to partners under this subsection (e) and providing counseling and written materials as required by item (3) of this subsection (e) shall not be subject to civil or professional liability, except for willful and wanton misconduct. A health care professional shall not be subject to civil or professional liability for choosing not to provide expedited partner therapy.

(Source: P.A. 90-14, eff. 7-1-97.)