Legal Status of EPT

Legal Status of EPT - Maine

EPT is potentially allowable.

I. Statutes/regs on health care providers’ authority to prescribe for STDs to a patient’s partner(s) w/out prior evaluation (Explanation)
II. Specific judicial decisions concerning EPT (or like practices) (Explanation)
III. Specific administrative opinions by the Attorney General or medical or pharmacy boards concerning EPT (or like practices) (Explanation)	It is the policy of the Board of Licensure in Medicine that prescribing, dispensing or furnishing a prescription medication or device to a person who is not an established patient and whom the physician has not personally examined may be unprofessional conduct subject to disciplinary action pursuant to 32 MRSA, §3282-A, 2, (f). This rule does not apply to admission orders for a newly hospitalized patient, prescribing for a patient of another physician for whom the prescriber is providing coverage, or continuing medication on a short-term basis prior to a new patient's first appointment. [Link to Medical Board Opinion]
IV. Legislative bills or prospective regulations concerning EPT (or like practices) (Explanation)
V. Laws that incorporate via reference guidelines as acceptable practices (including EPT) (Explanation)	Incorporates by reference treatment as stated in CDC recommendations for notifiable conditions. Incorporates by reference prescribed care as set forth in APHA CCD Manual, 17th edition (2000), unless specified otherwise by the State Epidemiologist. 10-144 Me. Code R. Ch. 258, § 5. “The health department may establish procedures for agents of the department to use in the . . . treatment of individuals having or reasonably believed to have a communicable disease.” Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, § 807.
VI. Prescription requirements (Explanation)	Prescription drug orders shall contain, at a minimum, Name and Address of the Patient. 02-392 CMR Part 4, Ch. 19, p. 72.
VII. Assessment of EPT’s legal status with brief comments (Explanation)	EPT is potentially allowable. Lacking statutory guidance, the medical board opines that failure to conduct a physical exam “may” constitute unprofessional conduct. The state, however, has incorporated by reference CDC’s guidelines for notifiable conditions and APHA’s CCD Manual, each of which may suggest the use of EPT.
Status as of August 16, 2006

Legend:
supports the use of EPT	EPT is permissible
negatively affects the use of EPT	EPT is potentially allowable
	EPT is prohibited

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Exception: EPT is permissible in Baltimore, Maryland.

Page last modified: December 13, 2007
Page last reviewed: December 13, 2007
Content Source: Division of STD Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention