448.035 Expedited partner therapy.

(1) In this section:

(a) “Certified advanced practice nurse prescriber" means a nurse who is certified under s. 441.16 (2).

(b) “Antimicrobial drug" means a drug identified for the treatment of a chlamydial infection, gonorrhea, or trichomoniasis in the most current guidelines for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases of the federal centers for disease control and prevention. “Antimicrobial drug" does not include a substance listed in the schedules in ss. 961.14, 961.16, 961.18, 961.20, and 961.22 or substances added to these schedules by the controlled substances board acting under s. 961.11 (1).

(c) “Expedited partner therapy" means to prescribe, dispense, or furnish to a patient an antimicrobial drug to be used by a sexual partner of the patient to treat a chlamydial infection, gonorrhea, or trichomoniasis without physical examination of the sexual partner.

(2) Notwithstanding the requirements of s. 448.30, a physician, physician assistant, or certified advanced practice nurse prescriber may provide expedited partner therapy if the patient is diagnosed as infected with a chlamydial infection, gonorrhea, or trichomoniasis and the patient has had sexual contact with a sexual partner during which the chlamydial infection, gonorrhea, or trichomoniasis may have been transmitted to or from the sexual partner. The physician, physician assistant, or certified advanced practice nurse prescriber shall attempt to obtain the name of the patient's sexual partner. A prescription order for an antimicrobial drug prepared under this subsection shall include the name and address of the patient's sexual partner, if known. If the physician, physician assistant, or certified advanced practice nurse prescriber is unable to obtain the name of the patient's sexual partner, the prescription order shall include, in ordinary bold-faced capital letters, the words, “expedited partner therapy" or the letters “EPT."

(3) The physician, physician assistant, or certified advanced practice nurse prescriber shall provide the patient with a copy of the information sheet prepared by the department of health services under s. 46.03 (44) and shall request that the patient give the information sheet to the person with whom the patient had sexual contact.

(4)

(a) Except as provided in par. (b), a physician, physician assistant, or certified advanced practice nurse prescriber is immune from civil liability for injury to or the death of a person who takes any antimicrobial drug if the antimicrobial drug is prescribed, dispensed, or furnished under this section and if expedited partner therapy is provided as specified under this section.

(b) The immunity under par. (a) does not extend to the donation, distribution, furnishing, or dispensing of an antimicrobial drug by a physician, physician assistant, or certified advanced practice nurse prescriber whose act or omission involves reckless, wanton, or intentional misconduct.

History: 2009 a. 280.