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2019 SESSION

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HB 2731 Lyme disease; disclosure of information to patients.

Introduced by: James E. Edmunds, II | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED HOUSE:

Lyme disease; disclosure of information to patients. Requires every laboratory reporting the results of a test for Lyme disease ordered by a health care provider in an office-based setting to include, together with the results of such test provided to the health care provider, a notice stating that the results of Lyme disease tests may vary and may produce results that are inaccurate and that a patient may not be able to rely on a positive or negative result from such test. Such notice shall also include a statement that health care providers are encouraged to discuss Lyme disease test results with the patient for whom the test was ordered. The bill also provides that a laboratory that complies with the provisions of the bill shall be immune from civil liability absent gross negligence or willful misconduct.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Lyme disease; disclosure of information to patients. Requires physicians to provide to each patient for whom a test for the presence of Lyme disease is ordered a written notice about Lyme disease, testing for Lyme disease, and the need for the patient to contact his physician with questions or concerns about Lyme disease. The bill also provides that licensees are immune from civil liability for providing such notice absent gross negligence or willful misconduct. The bill reinstates a requirement in the Code of Virginia that was effective from 2013 until its expiration on July 1, 2018. The provisions of this bill expire on July 1, 2021.