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

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. If at any time the department of health and human services (HHS) finds there are significant differences between the content of the required notice and the most recent medical evidence on Lyme disease testing, HHS may adopt administrative rules to amend the content of the notice to reflect the most recent medical evidence. Additionally, the provision by a health care provider or medical laboratory of the notice required under the bill shall not be the sole basis for a cause of action or licensee discipline. “Health care provider” and “medical laboratory” are defined in the bill. The bill also requires professional licensing boards for health care providers to develop continuing education requirements regarding treatment strategies to assist patients with prolonged symptoms due to Lyme disease in managing and recovering from these prolonged symptoms. The bill also amends a Code provision relating to Lyme disease treatment and exemption from licensee discipline to provide that a health care provider as defined under the bill shall not be subject to licensee discipline under Code chapter 147 (general provisions, health-related professions) or the health licensing board’s enabling statute solely on the basis of the provision of the notice required under the bill.