hard deadlines

Portsmouth state Sen. Chuck Levesque and Warwick Rep. Eileen S. Naughton had a great editorial in RIFuture this week about the work of their HIV and AIDS Code Study Commission and discussing legislation passed this year reducing the red tape required for health care professionals to perform testing by allowing patients to give verbal permission instead of a separate written consent.

This may seem like an insignificant change, but consider the message it sends. Under previous law, a doctor administering a physical could simply ask a person if he or she wanted to be tested for all other STDs. But an HIV/AIDS test, arguably the most important, required special written consent. To some patients, the implication was that an HIV test is something reserved for extraordinary circumstances. Worse, singling out that test might lead some patients to believe that there is something dangerous or shameful in being tested. Or they might fear the meaning or use of the test results. Our new law makes HIV testing more routine, while offering much tighter patient safeguards and more emphasis on patient counseling.
— RIFuture

Thanks to Levesque, Naughton, and our other legislators who supported this important public health work.