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James G. Hodge, Jr, JD, LLM, Amy Pulver, MA, MBA, Matthew Hogben, PhD, Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharya, JD, MPH and Erin Fuse Brown, JD, MPH

James G. Hodge Jr, Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharya, and Erin Fuse Brown are with the Center for Law and the Public’s Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Md. Amy Pulver and Matthew Hogben are with the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to James G. Hodge Jr, JD, LLM, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Hampton House, Rm 588, 624 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205-1996 (e-mail: jhodge{at}jhsph.edu).

An emerging alternative to traditional partner management for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is expedited partner therapy (EPT), which involves the delivery of medications or prescriptions to STD patients for their partners without the clinical assessment of the partners.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended EPT nationally in limited circumstances; however, its implementation may raise legal concerns. We analyzed laws relevant to the distribution of medications to persons with whom clinicians have not personally treated or established a relationship.

We determined that three fourths of states or territories either expressly permit EPT or do not expressly prohibit the practice. We recommend (1) expressly endorsing EPT through laws, (2) creating exceptions to existing prescription requirements, (3) increasing professional board or association support for EPT, and (4) supporting third-party payments for partners’ medications.

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