HF 2591: Relating to Lyme disease, including notice and consent provisions required for Lyme disease testing, and continuing education requirements for health care providers

What it does

This bill relates to notice and consent requirements for testing and treatment of Lyme disease. The bill provides that a health care provider who draws the blood of a patient to perform a laboratory test for the presence of Lyme disease or a medical laboratory that performs a laboratory test for the presence of Lyme disease shall provide the written notice prescribed in the bill to the patient at the time the patient’s blood is drawn. The notice must include statements that: current laboratory testing for the presence of Lyme disease can be problematic and standard laboratory tests often result in false negative and false positive results; that if testing is performed too early, the patient may not have produced enough antibodies to be considered positive because the patient’s immune response requires time to develop antibodies; that if the patient is tested for the presence of Lyme disease and the results are negative, this does not necessarily mean the patient does not have Lyme disease; and that if the patient continues to experience unexplained symptoms, the patient should contact the patient’s health care provider and inquire about the appropriateness of retesting or initial or additional treatment.

In plain words

1. February 19, 2024Filed in the House