§1121.6. Expedited partner therapy

A. The purpose of this Section is to allow for the provision of medications or prescriptions by any physician licensed to practice medicine in this state or any advanced practice registered nurse who is licensed to practice nursing in this state, or any physician assistant, who is licensed to practice in this state, provided such physician or nurse or physician assistant has the authority to write prescriptions in this state, to individuals who may have been exposed to gonorrhea or chlamydia. Expedited partner therapy is hereby authorized absent a doctor-patient relationship and absent clinical assessment.

B. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, any physician or any advanced practice registered nurse who diagnoses or does a nurse clinical assessment or any physician assistant who performs an examination of a case of chlamydia or gonorrhea in an individual patient may prescribe, furnish, or otherwise provide prescription antibiotic drugs to that patient's sexual partner or partners absent a doctor-patient relationship or absent an advanced practice registered nurse-patient relationship and without examination or nurse clinical assessment or physician assistant examination of that patient's sexual partner or partners.

C. If expedited partner therapy is chosen as an alternative, the patient with a case of chlamydia or gonorrhea will be given a written document that he agrees to give to his sexual contact. The document will contain, but will not be limited to, the following information:

(1) The sexual contact should be examined and treated by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or physician assistant, if at all possible.

(2) The medicine or prescription for medicine given to the sexual contact by the patient should not be taken by the contact if the contact has a history of allergy to the antibiotic or to the pharmaceutical class of antibiotic in which case the sexual contact should be examined and treated by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or physician assistant and offered another type of antibiotic treatment.

(3) The medicine or prescription for medicine given to the sexual contact by the patient should not be taken by the contact if the contact is pregnant, in which case the sexual contact should be examined by the prenatal care health care provider.

D. Any pharmacist licensed to practice pharmacy in this state may recognize a prescription authorized by this Section as valid notwithstanding any other provision of law or administrative rule to the contrary.

E. The provisions of this Section which relate to expedited partner therapy shall be implemented according to rules promulgated by the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.

Acts 2008, No. 449, §1, eff. June 25, 2008; Redesignated from R.S. 40:1064.1 by HCR 84 of 2015 R.S.