32-3207. Health professionals disease hazard; testing; petition; definition

328 words·~1 min read·/az/title-32/32-3207

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

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.