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§ 7605. Consent to HIV-related test

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 35 P.S. Health and SafetyEffective: September 6, 2011

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated Statutes
Title 35 P.S. Health and Safety (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 45. Confidentiality of HIV-Related Information Act (Refs & Annos)
Effective: September 6, 2011
35 P.S. § 7605
§ 7605. Consent to HIV-related test
Currentness
(a) Consent.--
(1) Except as provided in section 61 with respect to the involuntary testing of a source patient, no HIV-related test shall be performed without first obtaining the informed documented consent of the subject. Any consent shall be preceded by an explanation of the test, including its purpose, potential uses, limitations and the meaning of its results.
(2) A health care provider may offer opt-out HIV testing, where the subject is informed that the subject will be tested for HIV unless the subject refuses.
(3) The health care provider shall document the provision of informed consent, including pretest information, and whether the subject declined the offer of HIV testing.
(b) Deleted by 2011, July 7, P.L. 274, No. 59, § 1.1, effective in 60 days [Sept. 6, 2011].
(c) Confirmatory test.--No test result shall be determined as positive, and no positive test result shall be revealed, without confirmatory testing if it is required by generally accepted medical standards.
(d) Notice of test result.--The physician who ordered the test, the physician's designee or a successor in the same relationship to the subject shall make a good faith effort to inform the subject of the result regardless of whether the result is positive or negative.
(e) Deleted by 2011, July 7, P.L. 274, No. 59, § 1.1, effective in 60 days [Sept. 6, 2011].
(e.1) Posttest counseling.--No positive test result shall be revealed to the subject without affording the subject the immediate opportunity for individual, face-to-face counseling about:
(1) The significance of the test results.
(2) Measures for the prevention of the transmission of HIV.
(3) The benefits of locating and counseling any individual by whom the subject may have been exposed to HIV and the availability of any services with respect to locating and counseling such individual.
(4) The availability of any appropriate health care services, including mental health care, and appropriate social and support services.
(5) The benefits of locating and counseling any individual who the infected subject may have exposed to HIV and the availability of any services with respect to locating and counseling such individual.
(f) Blinded HIV-related testing.--Blinded HIV-related testing for purposes of research performed in a manner by which the identity of the test subject is not known and may not be retrieved by the researcher is prohibited, unless reviewed and approved by the institutional review board established by the department except for testing pursuant to research approved by an institutional review board prior to the effective date of this act. The department shall make a good faith effort to maintain records of the results of blinded HIV tests performed in this Commonwealth and shall, on a yearly basis, forward information concerning the results to the appropriate committees of the General Assembly.
(g) Exceptions.--
(1) The provisions of subsections (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) shall not apply to the following:
(i) The performance of an HIV-related test on a cadaver by a health care provider which procures, processes, distributes or uses a human body or a human body part, tissue or semen for use in medical research, therapy or transplantation.
(ii) The performance of an HIV-related test for the purpose of medical research not prohibited by subsection (f) if the testing is performed in a manner by which the identity of the test subject is not known and may not be retrieved by the researcher.
(iii) The performance of an HIV-related test when the test result of a subject is required by an insurer for underwriting purposes. However, the insurer shall satisfy the requirements of subsection (h).
(2) The provisions of subsections (a), (b) and (c) shall not apply to the performance of an HIV-related test in a medical emergency when the subject of the test is unable to grant or withhold consent and the test result is medically necessary for diagnostic purposes to provide appropriate emergency care to the subject.
(3) The provisions of subsections (d) and (e) shall not apply when a negative HIV-related test result is secured by a subject who has taken the test solely to satisfy a requirement for donating a human body or human body part, tissue or semen for use in medical research, therapy, transfusion or transplantation. However, if the subject requests identification of a negative test result, the test result shall be provided to the subject in accordance with subsection (d).
(h) Requirements applicable to insurers.--
(1) No HIV-related test shall be performed without first obtaining the informed written consent of the subject. Any consent shall be preceded, in writing, by:
(i) A disclosure of the effects of the test result on the approval of the application, or the risk classification of the subject.
(ii) Information explaining AIDS, HIV and the HIV-related test.
(iii) A description of the insurer's confidentiality standards.
(iv) A statement that, because of the serious nature of HIV-related illnesses, the subject may desire to obtain counseling before undergoing the HIV-related test.
(v) Information concerning the availability of alternative HIV-related testing and counseling provided by the department and local health departments, and the telephone number of the department from which the subject may secure additional information on such testing and counseling.
(2) The insurer is required to disclose to the subject a negative test result on an HIV-related test only if the subject requests notification.
(3) The insurer shall not disclose to the subject of an HIV-related test a positive test result. On the form on which the insurer secures the subject's written consent to the HIV-related test, the subject shall be required to designate to whom a positive test result shall be disclosed. The subject shall have the choice of designating a physician, the department or a local health department, or a local community-based organization from a list of such organizations prepared by the department. The insurer shall notify the designee of a positive test result.
(4) A positive test result shall be disclosed to the subject, by the designee, in accordance with subsections (d) and (e). The department may elect to have its disclosure responsibilities satisfied by a local health department.

Credits

1990, Nov. 29, P.L. 585, No. 148, § 5, effective in 90 days. Amended 2011, July 7, P.L. 274, No. 59, § 1.1, effective in 60 days [Sept. 6, 2011].

Footnotes

1
35 P.S. § 7606.
35 P.S. § 7605, PA ST 35 P.S. § 7605
Current through Act 10 of the 2024 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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