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National HIV/AIDS Program |  | | |
| Update on HIV Testing and Patient Consent Issues | | Current public law and VHA policy require written informed consent for laboratory testing to determine HIV status. In order for practice to change, both the law and applicable VHA policy must change. Congress has passed a bill that includes repeal of the law requiring written informed consent and it was signed into law by the President on October 10, 2008. We are working to resolve remaining legal issues with changing policy; until this occurs, there is no change to the requirement to obtain written informed consent for testing to determine HIV status.
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 | | When this bill becomes law, can we immediately start doing HIV testing without written informed consent? | |
No. The current policy on HIV testing, as specified in VHA Handbook 1004.1, will continue to govern VHA practice.
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| Will the pertinent VHA policy be changed? | |
We have been working in advance of the law's passage with other staff within the Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards, the VA Office of General Counsel, the National Center for Ethics in Health Care, advisory groups, and VA leadership to define a new policy on informed consent for HIV testing.
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| How long will it take to change VHA policy and how will I know if it changes? | |
We can't say right now how long that will take, but on December 29, 2008, a proposal was published in the Federal Register seeking to amend HIV testing informed consent regulations. The public has 30 days to comment on this proposal. Once comments are received and analyzed, a final rule will be published and the VHA Handbook on informed consent will be revised. When the new policy on informed consent is available, it will be announced through standard VHA communication channels and we will also disseminate the information throught our network of HIV providers.
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| What do I do if I have more questions? | |
Resources for additional information, along with this website, include:
- HIV Lead Clinician for your facility
- National Clinical Public Health Program Office at publichealth@va.gov, or at (202) 461-7249
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| | | David Ross, MD, PhD
Director, Clinical Public Health Programs
Public Health Strategic Health Care Group (13B)
Department of Veterans Affairs
CC: Dr. Lawrence Deyton, Chief Officer, OPHEH
Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, Chief Consultant, PHSHG
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| Reviewed/Updated Date: December 29, 2008 |
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