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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 25, 2014 09:22 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Dom Costa |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Amendment to the Confidentiality of HIV-Related Information Act to give corrections officers the right to know the HIV status of an inmate under their supervision. |
| I will soon introduce a bill to amend the Confidentiality of HIV-Related Information Act to permit the department of corrections to disclose the HIV, hepatitis b or hepatitis c status of any infected inmate to all corrections officers required to interact with the infected inmate. Generally, the Confidentiality of HIV-Related information act provides the confidentiality of certain medical records, leaving corrections officers and their families at risk of being exposed to the bodily fluids of an infected inmate. Currently under this act, a corrections officer may only be informed of the status of an infected inmate if either the inmate consents or if a physician documents a significant exposure to the corrections officer and the inmate’s physician has made a good faith effort to notify the inmate. The release of this information is only to further provide for the personal safety of corrections officers and in no way allows for the corrections officer to disclose the inmate’s confidential HIV-related information. My hope is that this amendment will ultimately result in a safer workplace for correctional officers who will now be able to exercise caution when required to interact with an infected inmate. |
Introduced as HB2185