Bill Text: IA HF2289 | 2023-2024 | 90th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to Lyme disease, including notice and consent provisions required for Lyme disease testing, and continuing education requirements for health care providers.(See HF 2591.)

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-02-19 - Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 2591. [HF2289 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2023-HF2289-Introduced.html

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House File 2289 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 2289
BY BODEN
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to Lyme disease, including notice and consent
provisions required for Lyme disease testing, and continuing
education requirements for health care providers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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H.F. 2289
Section 1. NEW SECTION . 135.194 Lyme disease —— laboratory
test —— notice requirement and content —— cause of action ——
licensee discipline.
1. 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 following written
notice to the patient at the time the patient’s blood is drawn:
Your health care provider has ordered a laboratory test
for the presence of Lyme disease for you. Current laboratory
testing for Lyme disease can be problematic and standard
laboratory tests often result in false negative and false
positive results and, if performed too early, you may not have
produced enough antibodies to be considered positive because
your immune response requires time to develop antibodies.
If you are tested for the presence of Lyme disease and the
results are negative, this does not necessarily mean you do not
have Lyme disease. If you continue to experience unexplained
symptoms, you should contact your health care provider and
inquire about the appropriateness of retesting or initial or
additional treatment.
2. At any time, if the department determines there are
significant differences between the content of the notice
required by subsection 1 and the most recent medical evidence
on Lyme disease testing, the department may adopt rules
pursuant to chapter 17A to amend the content of the notice to
reflect the most recent medical evidence.
3. The provision by a health care provider or medical
laboratory of the notice required by this section shall not be
the sole basis for a cause of action or licensee discipline.
4. For the purposes of this section:
a. “Health care provider” means an individual licensed
under chapter 148, 148C, 148D, 152, or 152E, or any individual
who provides medical services under the authorization of the
licensee.
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H.F. 2289
b. “Medical laboratory” means any facility, entity, or site
that offers or performs tests or examinations in connection
with the diagnosis and control of human diseases or the
assessment of human health, nutritional, or medical conditions.
Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 135.195 Continuing education ——
treatment strategies for prolonged symptoms due to Lyme disease.
Each licensing board for a health care provider as defined in
section 135.194 shall develop, and a health care provider shall
complete, continuing education requirements regarding treatment
strategies to assist patients with prolonged symptoms due to
Lyme disease in managing and recovering from these prolonged
symptoms.
Sec. 3. Section 147.56, Code 2024, is amended to read as
follows:
147.56 Lyme disease treatment —— laboratory testing notice ——
exemption from licensee discipline.
1. A person licensed by a board under this subtitle shall
not be subject to discipline under this chapter or the board’s
enabling statute based solely on the licensee’s recommendation
or provision of a treatment method for Lyme disease or other
tick-borne disease if the recommendation or provision of such
treatment meets all the following criteria:
1. a. The treatment is provided after an examination is
performed and informed consent is received from the patient.
2. b. The licensee identifies a medical reason for
recommending or providing the treatment.
3. c. The treatment is provided after the licensee informs
the patient about other recognized treatment options and
describes to the patient the licensee’s education, experience,
and credentials regarding the treatment of Lyme disease or
other tick-borne disease.
4. d. The licensee uses the licensee’s own medical
judgment based on a thorough review of all available clinical
information and Lyme disease or other tick-borne disease
literature to determine the best course of treatment for the
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H.F. 2289
individual patient.
5. e. The treatment will not, in the opinion of the
licensee, result in the direct and proximate death of or
serious bodily injury to the patient.
2. A health care provider as defined in section 135.194
shall not be subject to licensee discipline under this chapter
or the board’s enabling statute solely on the basis of the
provision of the notice required by section 135.194.
Sec. 4. CODE EDITOR DIRECTIVE. The Code editor is directed
to create a new subchapter XXXVII in chapter 135 as follows:
Subchapter XXXVII shall be entitled “LYME DISEASE TESTING ——
NOTICE AND CONSENT REQUIREMENTS —— CONTINUING EDUCATION” and
include sections 135.194 and 135.195.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
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
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H.F. 2289
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, and health care providers to
complete, 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.
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