In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that health care providers who treat patients for chlamydia and gonorrhea also provide treatment for the patient’s partner, even if the partner has not been seen by the provider. In response to this recommendation, several states have adopted laws and regulations to implement so-called expedited partner therapy (EPT). Most of these state policies follow the CDC guidelines and recommend this course of treatment for gonorrhea and chlamydia infections. In other cases, states allow EPT for the treatment of all STIs or only for specific infections, such as gonorrhea, chlamydia or trichomoniasis. Several of these states encourage or require the health care practitioner to provide information about STIs to the patient to give to their partner.
Expedited Partner Therapy | |||||
STATE | PERMITS TREATMENT OF A PATIENT'S PARTNER FOR: | INFORMATION FOR A PATIENT'S PARTNER | |||
All or Most STIs | Chlamydia | Gonorrhea | Trichomoniasis | ||
Alaska | X |
|
|
|
|
Arizona | X |
|
|
|
|
Arkansas* |
| X | X |
|
|
California | X |
|
|
|
|
Colorado | X |
|
|
|
|
Connecticut |
| X | X |
|
|
Delaware†,‡ |
| X | X |
| Required |
District of Columbia |
| X | X | X | Required |
Georgia |
| X | X |
|
|
Hawaii |
| X | X |
|
|
Idaho‡ |
| X | X |
|
|
Illinois† |
| X | X |
| Required |
Indiana |
| X | X |
| Required |
Iowa |
| X | X |
|
|
Kentucky |
| X | X | X |
|
Louisiana |
| X | X |
| Required |
Maine† | X |
|
|
| Required |
Maryland |
| X | X | X |
|
Massachusetts |
| X |
|
| Encouraged |
Michigan *,† |
| X | X |
|
|
Minnesota‡ |
| X | X |
|
|
Missouri |
| X | X |
|
|
Nebraska |
| X | X | X | Required |
Nevada‡ |
| X | X |
|
|
New Hampshire | X |
|
|
|
|
New Jersey* |
| X | X |
|
|
New Mexico† |
| X | X | X | Encouraged |
New York |
| X | X |
| Required |
North Carolina‡ |
| X | X |
|
|
North Dakota | X |
|
|
|
|
Ohio |
| X | X | X | Required |
Oregon† |
| X | X |
| Encouraged |
Rhode Island |
| X | X |
|
|
Tennessee† |
| X |
|
| Required |
Texas | X |
|
|
|
|
Utah |
| X | X |
|
|
Vermont |
| XΨ | X |
| Required |
Washington |
| X | X |
| Required |
West VirginaΩ,† |
|
|
|
|
|
Wisconsin |
| X | X | X | Required |
TOTAL | 8 | 30+DC | 28+DC | 6+DC | 15+DC |
* State policy is limited to different-sex partners. |