At a glance
EPT is permissible in Utah as of May 12, 2009.
Findings
[+] supports the use of EPT
[-] negatively affects the use of EPT
I. Statutes/regs on health care providers’ authority to prescribe for STDs to a patient’s partner(s) w/out prior evaluation
[+] The Pharmacy Privacy Act is amended to provide an option for practitioners to use expedited partner therapy and “excludes from the definition of unprofessional conduct and unlawful conduct under the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, issuing a prescription for an antibiotic to an unnamed partner of a person who has any one of certain designated sexually transmitted disease.” Utah Code Ann. § 58-1-501.3 (effective 5/12/2009)
[+] Health Department may authorize physician to write standing order prescriptions without patient name or date for treatment of STDs to be filled out and delivered to patient by nurse. Utah Code Ann. § 58-17b-620.
II. Specific judicial decisions concerning EPT (or like practices)
III. Specific administrative opinions by the Attorney General or medical or pharmacy boards concerning EPT (or like practices)
[+] Dentist may prescribe fluoride to schoolchildren without prior examination if he has sufficient contact to ascertain general amount of fluoride in drinking water. Furthermore, “[i]t is not necessary for the existence of a practitioner-patient relationship that the patient has previously undergone treatment by the practitioner nor that the patient has a continuing relationship with the practitioner.” Utah Op. Att’y Gen. No. 77-017 (1977).*
IV. Laws that incorporate via reference guidelines as acceptable practices (including EPT)
[+] Regulations incorporate by reference: APHA’s CCD Manual. 21st ed., 2022; AAP Red Book, 32nd Ed. 2021. Utah Admin. Code r. 386-702-18
V. Prescription requirements
[-] Prescription order must include patient’s name and address. Prescription label must bear patient’s name. Utah Code Ann. § 58-17b-602.*
[+] A health department may implement the prescription procedure under Subsection (3) for prescription drugs, other than controlled substances, for use in clinics providing: (a) sexually transmitted disease treatment; (b) fluoride treatment; or (c) travel immunization. [Subsection 3 provides that] the following prescription procedure shall be carried out…: (a) a physician writes and signs a prescription for prescription drugs, other than controlled substances, without the name and address of the patient and without the date the prescription is provided to the patient; and (b) the physician authorizes a registered nurse…to complete the prescription written … by inserting the patient’s name and address, and the date the prescription is provided to the patient, in accordance with the physician’s standing written orders and a written health department protocol approved by the physician and the medical director of the state Department of Health. Utah Code Ann. § 58-17b-620(2)-(4)
[-] It is considered unlawful conduct for a pharmacist to dispense a prescription drug “to a person who does not have a prescription from a practitioner….” Utah Code Ann. § 58-17b-501(10)*
VI. Assessment of EPT’s legal status with brief comments
EPT is permissible. Statutory authority expressly allows for anonymous STD treatment. An attorney general opinion allows for third-party prescriptions without prior physical examination. EPT, however is only allowed for the treatment of STDs and cases recognized by official opinions. Outside these cases, it is unlawful for a pharmacist to dispense drugs for anyone who does not have a prescription.
* This legal authority predates the effective date of the state’s law that authorizes EPT.