Legal Status of EPT in Maine

permissible 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) plus sign “. . . 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)

plus sign “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) minus symbol 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) plus sign The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention requires that “treatment shall be in accord with the most current treatment recommendations/standards of care for the notifiable disease or condition.” 10-144 Me. Code R. Ch. 258, §10.10
plus sign Incorporates by reference prescribed care as set forth in APHA CCD Manual, 20th edition (2015) “or any subsequent edition,” unless specified otherwise by the State Epidemiologist. 10-144 Me. Code R. Ch. 258, §10
plus sign “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) minus symbol 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.*
minus symbol 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) permissible 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 November 4, 2015

Legend

plus sign supports the use of EPT

minus symbol negatively affects the use of EPT

permissible EPT is permissible

potentially allowable EPT is potentially allowable

prohibited EPT is prohibited

This is a table caption for compliance. Ignore it please.
permissible EPT is permissible in 46 states: potentially allowable EPT is potentially allowable in 4 states: prohibited 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/.