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Disclosing of AIDS and HIV test results or diagnosis – Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3701.243

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No person or agency of state or local government that acquires information while providing health services or while working in a health care facility or for a health care provider, may disclose or compel another to disclose any of the following:

  • The identity of the person on whom an HIV test is performed;
  • Results of any HIV test in a form that identifies the individual tested; or
  • Identity of an individual diagnosed as having AIDS or an AIDS related condition.

The results of an HIV test or the identity of an individual on whom an HIV test is performed, or who is diagnosed as having AIDS or an AIDS-related condition may be disclosed only to the following:

  • The individual who was tested or his legal guardian;
  • The individual’s spouse or any sexual partner;
  • Person to whom disclosure is authorized;
  • Individual’s physician;
  • Department of Health or a health commissioner to which reports are made;
  • Facilities that distribute, procure, process or use body parts from deceased individuals, and need information to ensure that the body part is medically acceptable;
  • Health care facility staff committees or accreditation or oversight review organizations conducting program monitoring, evaluation or service reviews;
  • Providers, emergency personnel or peace officers who sustain exposure to the body fluids of another individual, if that individual was tested and his identity is not revealed;
  • Law enforcement authorities pursuant to a search warrant or subpoena;
  • A government agency for purposes of any public assistance program; 
  • Any person with whom the individual intends to share needles, if the individual has tested positive for HIV or has been diagnosed with AIDS or an AIDS-related condition; 
  • Health care providers if there is a medical need to know the information, if that provider is participating in the diagnosis, care or treatment of the individual. 

Any disclosure pursuant to this section shall be in writing and accompanied by a written statement that includes the following or substantially similar language: “This information has been disclosed to you from confidential records protected from disclosure by state law. You shall make no further disclosure of this information without the specific, written, and informed release of the individual to whom it pertains, or as otherwise permitted by state law. A general authorization for the release of medical or other information is not sufficient for the purpose of the release of HIV test results or diagnoses.”


Current as of June 2015