Under New Law, Doctors Could Treat STDs Without Seeing Patients

Under New Law, Doctors Could Treat STDs Without Seeing Patients

The Rhode Island House of Representatives will vote on a bill today that would allow healthcare providers to prescribe medication to sexual partners of patients infected with a sexually transmitted disease without first clinically evaluating the partner or partners. 

Known as expedited partner therapy (EPT), 23 states currently permit this practice. An additional 19 states, including Rhode Island, do not explicitly permit EPT, but they do not expressly prohibit the practice either.

Under the new law, licensed physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners would not be subject to civil or criminal liability if prescriptions are provided “reasonably and in good faith” to sexual partners without physical examination.

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A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the relative risk for persistent and recurring infections of chlamydia or gonorrhea among patients receiving EPT was less than the risk of infection for patients referring their partner for clinical evaluation and treatment.