32-3207. Health professionals
disease hazard; testing; petition; definition
A. A health professional may petition
the court to allow for the testing of a patient or deceased person if there is probable
cause to believe that in the course of that health professional's practice there
was a significant exposure.
B. The court shall hear the petition promptly. If the court finds that probable
cause exists to believe that significant exposure occurred between the patient or
deceased person and the health professional, the court shall order that either:
1. The person who transferred blood or bodily fluids onto the health professional
provide two specimens of blood for testing.
2. If the person is deceased, the medical examiner draw two specimens of blood for
testing.
C. On written notice from the employer of the health professional, the medical examiner
is authorized to draw two specimens of blood for testing during the autopsy or other
examination of the deceased person's body. The medical examiner shall release the
specimen to the employing agency or entity for testing only after the court issues
its order pursuant to subsection B. If the court does not issue an order within
thirty days after the medical examiner collects the specimen, the medical examiner
shall destroy the specimen.
D. Notice of the test results shall be provided as prescribed by the department
of health services to the person tested, the health professional named in the petition
and the health professional's employer. If the person is incarcerated or detained,
the notice shall also be provided to the chief medical officer of the facility in
which the person is incarcerated or detained.
E. For the purposes of this section, "significant exposure" means contact
of a person's ruptured or broken skin or mucous membranes with another person's
blood or bodily fluid, other than tears, saliva or perspiration, of a magnitude
that the centers for disease control of the United States public health service
have epidemiologically demonstrated can result in the transmission of blood borne
or bodily fluid carried diseases.