BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2280
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2280 (Leno)
As Amended August 22, 2006
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(May 16, 2005) |SENATE: |38-0 |(August 24, 2006) |
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |12-0 |(August 28, 2006) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY : Permits a physician or nurse practitioner, who diagnoses
a sexually transmitted gonorrhea infection, or other sexually
transmitted infection as determined by DHS, to prescribe, dispense,
furnish, or otherwise provide prescription antibiotic drugs to that
patient's sexual partner or partners without examination.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill and
instead permit a physician or nurse practitioner, who diagnoses a
sexually transmitted gonorrhea infection, or other sexually
transmitted infection as determined by DHS, to prescribe, dispense,
furnish, or otherwise provide prescription antibiotic drugs to that
patient's sexual partner or partners without examination.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Required DHS, no later than July 1, 2007, to develop a counseling
model for all persons who receive HIV testing at an alternative
test site or clinic that receives state funding for HIV testing.
Required DHS, in developing the counseling model, to seek input
from stakeholders, including, but not limited to, local health
jurisdictions and organizations that receive state funding for
HIV testing. Required DHS to consider specific factors in the
counseling model.
2)Required DHS to develop a reimbursement schedule that accurately
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reflects the range of services provided under this model.
Required the reimbursement schedule to ensure that a contractor
is reimbursed for individual services, as defined in the
counseling model.
3)Stated Legislative intent that the reimbursement schedule be
designed to encourage contractors to provide only those services
that are appropriate for each test subject and that this new
model and reimbursement schedule be cost-neutral, except to the
extent that there is an increase in the volume of test subjects.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill was substantially amended
subsequent to its analysis in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill seeks to address an
important issue related to the prevention of sexually transmitted
disease (STD) by expanding authorization for patient-delivered
therapy currently permitted for the sex partners of persons
diagnosed with chlamydia to also include the partners of those
diagnosed with gonorrhea. This bill will reduce persistent and
recurrent gonorrhea infections by expanding a successful practice
already in place for chlamydia. It will also grant new and
appropriate authority to DHS regarding PDT. Authorizing qualified
medical practitioners to provide patient-delivered therapy to the
sex partners of patients diagnosed with gonorrhea is a sensible
public health measure for California.
A February 2005 article published in the New England Journal of
Medicine found that Expedited treatment of sex partners reduces the
rates of persistent or recurrent gonorrhea or chlamydial infection.
The authors randomly assigned women and heterosexual men with
gonorrhea or chlamydial infection to have their partners receive
expedited treatment or standard referral. Patients in the
expedited-treatment group were offered medication to give to their
sex partners, or if they preferred, study staff members contacted
partners and provided them with medication without a clinical
examination. Patients assigned to expedited treatment of sexual
partners were significantly more likely than those assigned to
standard referral of partners to report that all of their partners
were treated and significantly less likely to report having sex
with an untreated partner.
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Patient-delivered therapy for chlamydia was authorized in
California by the passage of SB 648 (Ortiz), Chapter 835, Statutes
of 2000, which enables qualified medical practitioners to provide
prescription antibiotic drugs to a patient's sexual partner or
partners without examination of that patient's partner or partners.
According to the author, since enactment of SB 648,
patient-delivered therapy for chlamydia published studies have
documented that the rate of persistent or recurrent infections of
gonorrhea also can be reduced by utilizing patient-delivered
therapy for sex partners.
Analysis Prepared by : Melanie Moreno / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
FN: 0017578