AB 316

This bill creates a notice requirement for health care providers who order

certain laboratory tests for the presence of Lyme disease. Under the bill, the

Department of Health Services must create and make available on the Internet a

form with a notice for patients who receive certain specified laboratory tests for the

presence of Lyme disease. The form must contain a notice informing the patient 1)

about the prevalence of Lyme disease in the United States; 2) about the potential for

a false negative or false positive test result for the presence of Lyme disease; and 3)

that a patient whose test is negative should contact his or her health care provider

about being retested for Lyme disease if the patient continues to experience

symptoms. The bill then requires a health care provider who orders any of the

specified tests for the presence of Lyme disease for a patient to provide the patient

with a copy of the form. Finally, the bill requires the department to update the form

annually to account for the most recent statistics and for additional tests that are

developed to detect the presence of Lyme disease and that warrant the notice.