JEFFERSON CITY—With three days remaining in the 2010 legislative session, the Missouri Senate continues to swiftly move legislation through the lawmaking process by passing a handful of bills today and sending them back to the House for final consent.
One bill receiving Senate approval today was HB 1375 , a bill that increases HPV (human papillomavirus) awareness and allows for the utilization of “expedited sexual partner therapy” (according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the clinical practice of treating the sexual partners of patients diagnosed with chlamydia or gonorrhea by providing treatment to the patient to take to his/her partner without the health care provider first examining the partner).
The bill would provide that a physician may use this type of therapy to treat the sexual partners of people with chlamydia or gonorrhea even if the partners do not have an established patient-doctor relationship with the physician. The bill also specifies that a physician using this therapy may prescribe and dispense medications for the treatment of the sexually transmitted disease to the person’s sexual partners, and must explain the preventative measures that can be taken by the patient to stop the spread of the disease.
Any physician using expedited sexual partner therapy would have immunity from any corresponding civil liability—unless he or she acts negligently or in bad faith.
In addition, HB 1375 would require the Department of Health and Senior Services to develop an informational brochure describing the connection between HPV and cervical cancer and the availability of the HPV immunization. The department would make the brochure available on its website and notify each school district of its availability to be printed and potentially distributed to parents.
Also passed by the Senate today was HB 1444 , which would require at least four days notice before public meetings where local governing bodies may vote on tax increases, eminent domain and certain districts and projects.
Each public meeting of this type must include time for public comment, and if proper notice is not given, no vote may be taken until proper notice has been provided. Any legal challenge to the provisions of HB 1444 would need to be brought within 30 days of the meeting.
Both bills now return to the House for final approval.
The Second Regular Session of the 95th Missouri General Assembly runs through May 14, 2010. For more information about the Missouri Senate, visit www.senate.mo.gov . To contact the Senate Newsroom, call (573) 751-3824 or e-mail newsroom@senate.mo.gov .
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