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Legal Status of EPT in Utah

permissible EPT is permissible.

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 The Pharmacy Privacy Act is amended to provide an option for physicians to use expedited partner therapy and “excludes from the definition of unprofessional conduct and unlawful conduct under the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, issuing a prescription for an antibiotic to an unnamed partner of a person who has any one of certain designated sexually transmitted disease.” Utah Code Ann. § 58-1-501.3

plus sign Health Department may authorize physician to write standing order prescriptions without patient name or date for treatment of STDs to be filled out and delivered to patient by nurse. Utah Code Ann. § 58-17b-620.

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)

plus sign Dentist may prescribe fluoride to schoolchildren without prior examination if he has sufficient contact to ascertain general amount of fluoride in drinking water. Furthermore, “[i]t is not necessary for the existence of a practitioner-patient relationship that the patient has previously undergone treatment by the practitioner nor that the patient has a continuing relationship with the practitioner.” Utah Op. Att’y Gen. No. 77-017 (1977).

IV. Laws that incorporate via reference guidelines as acceptable practices (including EPT) (Explanation)

plus sign Regulations incorporate by reference: APHA’s CCD Manual. 20th ed., 2015; AAP Red Book, 30th Ed. 2015. Utah Admin. Code r. 386-702-13

V. Prescription requirements (Explanation)

minus symbol Prescription order must include patient’s name and address. Prescription label must bear patient’s name. Utah Code Ann. § 58-17b-602.

plus sign A health department may implement the prescription procedure under Subsection (3) for prescription drugs, other than controlled substances, for use in clinics providing: (a) sexually transmitted disease treatment; (b) fluoride treatment; or (c) travel immunization. [Subsection 3 provides that] the following prescription procedure shall be carried out…: (a) a physician writes and signs a prescription for prescription drugs, other than controlled substances, without the name and address of the patient and without the date the prescription is provided to the patient; and (b) the physician authorizes a registered nurse…to complete the prescription written … by inserting the patient’s name and address, and the date the prescription is provided to the patient, in accordance with the physician’s standing written orders and a written health department protocol approved by the physician and the medical director of the state Department of Health. Utah Code Ann. § 58-17b-620(2)-(4)

minus symbol It is considered unlawful conduct for a pharmacist to dispense a prescription drug “to anyone who does not have a prescription from a practitioner….” Utah Code Ann. § 58-17b-501(10)

VI. Assessment of EPT’s legal status with brief comments (Explanation)

permissible EPT is permissible.

Statutory authority expressly allows for anonymous STD treatment. An attorney general opinion allows for third-party prescriptions without prior physical examination. EPT, however is only allowed for the treatment of STDs and cases recognized by official opinions. Outside these cases, it is unlawful for a pharmacist to dispense drugs for anyone who does not have a prescription.

Status as of May 12, 2009

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

permissible EPT is permissible in 41 states: potentially allowable EPT is potentially allowable in 7 states: prohibited EPT is prohibited in 2 states:
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
EPT is permissible in the District of Columbia.
Alabama
Delaware
Kansas
New Jersey
Oklahoma
South Dakota
Virginia
EPT is potentially allowable in Puerto Rico.
Kentucky
South Carolina

  

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/.

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