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Written by Louis Weisberg, Staff writer
May 6, 2010
Under terms of a new law, Wisconsin health care providers no longer need to obtain written informed consent before testing patients for HIV. Instead, providers will routinely offer the test to patients and then order it unless patients explicitly decline.
The new law brings Wisconsin in line with federal guidelines established in 2006 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Bill Keeton, of the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin. His organization was involved in crafting the legislation.
“The goal of this new law is to make sure that people are being tested for HIV as part of their annual physicals and routine health care,” Keeton said.
The new law contains a provision mandating that health care services cannot be denied to patients who refuse to be tested. “We were very careful to ensure that the consent for HIV-testing still rested with the individual,” Keeton said.
Although the CDC testing guidelines met with resistance when they were introduced in 2006, Keeton said there was little opposition to the Wisconsin law. Keeton said written consent had proven to be a barrier to testing, due to the time and paperwork involved.
Gary Hollander, executive director of Diverse and Resilient, said the new law could help to normalize HIV testing, but he’s worried about abuses that might occur as a result of reduced documentation, especially in hospital settings.
The new measure also enhances penalties for inappropriate disclosure of a patient’s HIV status. The fine for negligent disclosure is increased from $1,000 to $2,000, from $25,000 to $50,000 for intentional disclosure and from $100,000 to $200,000 for intentional disclosure for the purpose of financial gain.
“I think making the fines bigger may have the salutary effect of a deterrent,” Hollander said.
