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CMA policy for reporting HIV seropositivity is as follows:
- The name of any individual who tests HIV positive should be reportable only to the local health officer and maintained at the county local level for an indefinite period of time.
- The local health officer will transmit information on HIV seropositivity to the state.
- Nothing shall require an anonymous test site, as established in Chapter 3 of Part 4 of Division 105 of the Health & Safety Code, beginning with Section 120885, to report the results of an HIV test performed at, or at the request of, such a site. Nothing shall abolish or adversely affect such anonymous test sites.
- HIV testing should remain voluntary and include informed consent, except as otherwise provided by law.
- Reporting of persons with HIV infection shall occur with documented evidence of a test whose result which reliably indicates HIV infection. Any positive test indicating HIV infection will be reported regardless of when the person was first diagnosed as HIV positive.
- Laboratories that do not meet the definition of an anonymous test site as established in Chapter 3 of Part 4 of Division 105 of the Health & Safety Code, beginning with Section 120885, will be required to report any positive test results to the local county health officer.
- Information reported to the local health officer will be used for the purposes of providing:
- Partner notification assistance services
- Assistance with access to medical evaluation and treatment
- Planning for future resource needs
- Epidemiological analysis
- Nothing in this policy is intended to abolish or negatively effect any partner notification services currently authorized and conducted by physicians or local health officers.
- No HIV-related information reported to the local health officer or to the California Department of Health Services shall be used to deny employment, housing, service in places of public accommodation, or any form of insurance to any person. Nothing shall reduce or otherwise adversely effect existing laws protecting individuals with HIV infection from discrimination.
During its 1988 session, the California Legislature enacted new
legislation requiring physicians to obtain informed consent to test for HIV,
rather than written consent. As a consequence, the consent standard for
HIV is not consistent with that utilized for most other medical procedures.
The California Medical Association has received numerous inquiries about
the legal requirements of "informed" consent. In response, the CMA has
prepared the following materials that can be purchased through our online bookstore: HIV Test: Informed Consent Forms and Patient Brochure set.
Contact your local assemblyperson or senator.
To find out what else CMA is doing for you, click here.
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