Is testing of the source patient under the Family Health Care Decisions Act (FHCDA) anonymous, as it is in the HIV Testing Law? If not, which law takes precedence?
The FHCDA gives providers the ability to locate someone who has the legal authority to consent to HIV testing before going forward with an anonymous test, as per the amended HIV Testing Law. Testing under FHCDA is just as if the patient or a health care agent under a health care proxy consented to the test – it is not anonymous. It is not a question of which law takes precedence, because the laws are not in conflict. Rather, it is more about the steps to be taken, which are as follows: • Approach source patient. Determine ‘no capacity to consent’, go to next step: • Approach surrogate. Surrogate available. Obtain consent. No surrogate available, go to next step: • Test source patient anonymously as per the amended HIV Testing Law.
