STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1545

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2013

RE:   S.B. No. 655

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 2

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Consumer Protection & Commerce and Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 655, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to protect public health by allowing health care professionals to provide Expedited Partner Therapy by dispensing or prescribing antibiotic medication, without conducting a direct examination, to the heterosexual partners of patients diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease in accordance with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Department of Health; American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Hawaii Section; Hawaii Medical Association; Hawaii Association of Professional Nurses, and two individuals testified in support of this measure.  An individual testified in opposition to this measure.  The Hawaii Medical Board provided comments on this measure.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting references to "heterosexual" to prevent limiting the provision of Expedited Partner Therapy to only heterosexual partners of patients;

     (2)  Including other sexually transmitted diseases that are or may be recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for expedited partner therapy in the definition of "sexually transmitted disease"; and

     (3)  Specifying that health professionals, licensed doctors, advanced practice registered nurses with prescriptive authority, and licensed pharmacists who provide Expedited Partner Therapy reasonably and in good faith in accordance with the law shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability and shall not be deemed to have engaged in unprofessional conduct, for providing that therapy.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Consumer Protection & Commerce and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 655, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 655, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Consumer Protection & Commerce and Judiciary,

____________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair

____________________________ ANGUS L.K. McKELVEY, Chair