Legal Status of EPT in Maine

EPT is permissible.

This is a table caption for compliance. Please ignore it.
I. Statutes/regs on health care providers’ authority to prescribe for STDs to a patient’s partner(s) w/out prior evaluation (Explanation)	“. . . a health care professional who makes a clinical diagnosis of a sexually transmitted disease may provide expedited partner therapy for the treatment of the sexually transmitted disease if in the judgment of the health care professional the sexual partner is unlikely or unable to present for comprehensive health care, including evaluation, testing and treatment. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22 § 1242 (effective 7/12/2010) “Expedited Partner Therapy can be provided to patients without laboratory confirmation of a sexually transmitted chlamydia and/or gonorrhea infection if the health care professional makes a clinical diagnosis of chlamydia and/or gonorrhea infection in the index case and there is concern about loss of follow-up.” 10-144 CMR Ch. 720, § II
II. Specific judicial decisions concerning EPT (or like practices) (Explanation)
III. Specific administrative opinions by the Attorney General or medical or pharmacy boards concerning EPT (or like practices) (Explanation)	It is the policy of the Board of Licensure in Medicine that prescribing, dispensing or furnishing a prescription medication or device to a person who is not an established patient and whom the physician has not personally examined may be unprofessional conduct subject to disciplinary action pursuant to 32 MRSA, §3282-A, 2, (f). This rule does not apply to admission orders for a newly hospitalized patient, prescribing for a patient of another physician for whom the prescriber is providing coverage, or continuing medication on a short-term basis prior to a new patient’s first appointment.*
IV. Laws that incorporate via reference guidelines as acceptable practices (including EPT) (Explanation)	“Treatment must be in accord with the most current treatment recommendations and standards of care for the Notifiable Disease or Condition, as advised by U.S. CDC and infectious disease providers. In imposing treatment and related public health disease control measures on an individual, the least restrictive measures will be utilized to ensure effective medical treatment of the disease or condition and to limit the spread of the Notifiable Disease or Condition or other infectious disease, which pose a threat to public health. The Department will adopt medical treatment and public health disease control strategies, as described in Section 9(D) of this rule whenever practical and as long as doing so does not unreasonably increase the threat to the public health.” 10-144 Me. Code R. Ch. 258 § 9 “[The Maine Department of Health and Human Services] will use all reasonable means to: […] 4. Institute control measures for Notifiable Diseases and Conditions consistent with the currently accepted standards as found in the Control of Communicable Diseases Manual 20th Edition, published in 2015, or any subsequent edition, which is the official report of the American Public Health Association, unless specified otherwise by the State Epidemiologist.” 10-144 CMR Ch. 258, § 9 “The health department may establish procedures for agents of the department to use in the . . . treatment of individuals having or reasonably believed to have a communicable disease.” Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, § 807.
V. Prescription requirements (Explanation)	Prescription drug orders shall contain, at a minimum, (b) name and address of the patient. 02-392 CMR Part 4, Ch. 19 §1, p. 72.* Prescription label must bear patient’s name. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 32 § 13794*
VI. Assessment of EPT’s legal status with brief comments (Explanation)	EPT is permissible. Statutory and regulatory authority expressly authorizes EPT for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.
* This legal authority predates the effective date of the state’s law that authorizes EPT. Status as of February 17, 2021

Legend

supports the use of EPT

negatively affects the use of EPT

EPT is permissible

EPT is potentially allowable

EPT is prohibited

This is a table caption for compliance. Ignore it please.
EPT is permissible in 46 states:	EPT is potentially allowable in 4 states:	EPT is prohibited in 0 states:
Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming EPT is permissible in the District of Columbia. EPT is permissible in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.	Alabama Kansas Oklahoma South Dakota EPT is potentially allowable in Puerto Rico and Guam.

Summary Totals

The information presented here is not legal advice, nor is it a comprehensive analysis of all the legal provisions that could implicate the legality of EPT in a given jurisdiction. The data and assessment are intended to be used as a tool to assist state and local health departments as they determine locally appropriate ways to control STDs.

For comments, feedback and updates, please contact CDC-INFO: https://www.cdc.gov/cdc-info/.