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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 7, 2015 03:01 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Dom Costa |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Right-to-Know HIV Status of Prisoners |
In the near future, I will re-introduce legislation – House Bill 2185 – to amend the Confidentiality of HIV-Related Information Act (Act 148 of 1990) by permitting the Department of Corrections to disclose the HIV, Hepatitis B, or Hepatitis C status of any infected prisoner to all correctional officers who are required to interact with the infected prisoner. Generally, current law provides the confidentiality of certain medical records, leaving correctional officers at risk of being exposed to the bodily fluids of an infected prisoner. At this writing, a correctional officer may be made privy to a prisoner’s HIV status if the prisoner consents, or if a physician documents a significant exposure to the correctional officer and the prisoner’s physician has made a good faith effort to notify the prisoner. Under my bill, the release of this information is only to further provide for the personal safety of correctional officers and in no way permits the correctional officer to disclose the prisoner’s confidential HIV-related information. It is imperative that we provide a safer workplace for correctional officers as they may become exposed to infected bodily fluids while working in their official capacity. I invite you to co-sponsor this important legislation. |
Introduced as HB106