October 10, 2007

Routine Testing? Not in Most States

Despite last year’s recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to routinely test for HIV, new research suggests that most states currently have laws in place preventing doctors from doing so.

The CDC guidelines recommend that all teens and adults be given HIV tests when entering a doctor’s office, emergency room or other health care centers, in an effort to eliminate stigma and start treating the 250,000 Americans who do not know they have the virus.

The study, published in the online journal PLoS One, showed that 33 states require informed consent before an HIV test is administered, while 24 states require disclosure of HIV status and testing information during pretest counseling or during the consent process. Both of these requirements go against current CDC guidelines.

Seven states—Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire and New Mexico—have recently altered their testing policies to be better aligned with CDC recommendations.