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(225 ILCS 95/25 new)
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Sec. 25. Sexually Transmissible Disease Control Act. No |
licensee under this Act may be disciplined for providing |
expedited partner therapy in accordance with the provisions of |
the Illinois Sexually Transmissible Disease Control Act.
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Section 20. The Illinois Sexually Transmissible Disease |
Control Act is amended by changing Sections 3 and 6 as follows:
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(410 ILCS 325/3) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 7403)
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Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the |
context clearly
requires otherwise:
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(1) "Department" means the Department of Public Health.
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(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.
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(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 |
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inflammatory disease (PID)/Acute
Salpingitis, syphilis, |
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and Human
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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.
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(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.)
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(410 ILCS 325/6) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 7406)
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Sec. 6. Physical examination and treatment.
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(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.
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(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.
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(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
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infectious and that a real and present danger to the public |
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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
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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.
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(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.
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(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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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. |
(6) A pharmacist or pharmacy shall not be subject to |
civil or professional liability for choosing not to fill a |
prescription that would cause the pharmacist or pharmacy to |
violate any provision of the Pharmacy Practice Act, |
including the definition of "prescription" set forth in |
subsection (e) of Section 3 of the Pharmacy Practice Act or |
the definition of "drug regimen review" set forth in |
subsection (y) of Section 3 of the Pharmacy Practice Act. |