N.Y. Civil Service Law § 178: Medical examination of public protection officials to detect and identify the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

§ 178. Medical examination of public protection officials to detect

and identify the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). 1. Definitions. For

the purposes of this section:

(a) "Assailant" means a person arrested and charged with a crime, as

defined in section 10.00 of the penal law, or a person committed to,

certified to, or placed in the custody of the department of corrections

and community supervision or any other correctional facility or county

jail.

(b) "Medical examination" includes a physical examination or test

performed by a physician or other appropriate health care worker to

determine if a public protection official has been exposed to or

infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Tests may include,

but need not be limited to, the most accurate, sensitive, and timely

tests available used for the early identification of the human

immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

(c) "Public protection official" means any state, county or municipal

police officer, peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical

technician, corrections officer, or sheriff who is acting under the

scope of authority of his or her official position.

(d) "Significant risk of transmission" means the alleged conduct of or

actions taken by an assailant or any other action, situation or event

that occurs while a public protection official is performing his or her

official duties that has created a recognized and significant risk of

infection of a public protection official with the human

immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as determined by the commissioner of

health, consistent with guidelines, protocols, and findings of the

United States centers for disease control and prevention.

2. Examination of public protection officials. (a) Whenever a public

protection official has been exposed to a significant risk of

transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while performing

his or her official duties, the employer of such official shall provide

to such public protection official an appropriate medical examination to

determine if such official has been exposed to or infected with the

human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Such medical examination of a public

protection official should be provided within eight hours of

notification to the employer or designated agent of the employer of an

incident that has created an exposure risk to the official.

(b) Should it be determined by the examining physician or other

attending health care worker that a significant risk of transmission has

occurred, or should any medical examination conclude that a public

protection official has been exposed to or infected with the human

immunodeficiency virus (HIV), then such official shall be offered

counseling and additional testing, as appropriate and consistent with

treatment guidelines issued by the commissioner of health. Such

counseling may include a discussion of the risk of the transmission of

the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from the exposure he or she may

have experienced and the spectrum of tests commercially available for

the prompt and reliable diagnosis of such infection. Information from

any such medical examination of a public protection official shall be

confidential information pursuant to article twenty-seven-F of the

public health law and shall not be made available to the employer

without the written authorization of the affected public protection

official.

3. Payment for medical examinations. Payment for medical examinations,

additional testing, treatment services, counseling services, and any

other additional services provided pursuant to subdivision two of this

section shall be covered by subdivision three of section ten of the

workers' compensation law; provided that any employer which is not

required to and does not provide coverage pursuant to subdivision three

of section ten of the workers' compensation law may finance such

payments for all of the foregoing services provided for by this section

from municipal funding sources, including, but not limited to, employee

accident and disability benefit programs, workers' compensation funds,

health insurance benefits, accident and disability retirement plans, or

any other source of funds that the municipal employer deems appropriate.

4. Guidelines. The commissioner of health shall issue guidelines to

facilitate the identification of circumstances potentially exposing a

public protection official to a significant risk of transmission of the

human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Such guidelines shall be consistent

with criteria accepted by the federal centers for disease control and

prevention. Such guidelines shall also provide information regarding

related counseling and testing procedures available to such individuals.

5. Confidentiality. Any information gathered pursuant to the

provisions of this article which is deemed confidential under any other

provision of law shall be treated in a confidential manner and shall not

be distributed, be made available or be disclosed by the employer.