2019 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 24 - Health and Safety
Article 1 - Public Health
Section 24-1-9.4 - Sexually transmitted infections; confidentiality.

A. Except as provided in Section 24-1-9.2 NMSA 1978, no person or the person's agents or employees who require or administer a test for sexually transmitted infections shall disclose the identity of any person upon whom a test is performed or the result of such a test in a manner that permits identification of the subject of the test, except to the following persons:

(1) the subject of the test or the subject's legally authorized representative, guardian or legal custodian;

(2) any person designated in a legally effective release of the test results executed prior to or after the test by the subject of the test or the subject's legally authorized representative;

(3) an authorized agent, a credentialed or privileged physician or an employee of a health facility or health care provider if the health care facility or health care provider itself is authorized to obtain the test results, the agent or employee provides patient care or handles or processes specimens of body fluids or tissues and the agent or employee has a need to know such information;

(4) the department of health and the centers for disease control and prevention of the United States public health service in accordance with reporting requirements for a diagnosed case of a sexually transmitted infection;

(5) a health facility or health care provider that procures, processes, distributes or uses:

(a) a human body part from a deceased person, with respect to medical information regarding that person;

(b) semen for the purpose of artificial insemination;

(c) blood or blood products for transfusion or injection; or

(d) human body parts for transplant with respect to medical information regarding the donor or recipient;

(6) health facility staff committees or accreditation or oversight review organizations that are conducting program monitoring, program evaluation or service reviews, as long as any identity remains confidential;

(7) authorized medical or epidemiological researchers who may not further disclose any identifying characteristics or information; and

(8) for purposes of application or reapplication for insurance coverage, an insurer or reinsurer upon whose request the test was performed.

B. Whenever disclosure is made, it shall be accompanied by a statement in writing that includes the following or substantially similar language: "This information has been disclosed to you from records whose confidentiality is protected by state law. State law prohibits you from making any further disclosure of this information without the specific written consent of the person to whom this information pertains or as otherwise permitted by law. A person who makes an unauthorized disclosure of this information is guilty of a petty misdemeanor and shall be sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail for a definite term not to exceed six months or the payment of a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or both.".

History: 1978 Comp., § 24-1-9.4, enacted by Laws 1996, ch. 80, § 3; 2017, ch. 87, § 13.

The 2017 amendment, effective June, 16, 2017, provided for a written statement regarding confidentiality that must accompany disclosures related to tests for sexually transmitted infections; replaced "disease" or "diseases" with "infection" or "infections" throughout the section; designated the previously undesignated introductory clause as Subsection A and redesignated former Subsections A through H as Paragraphs A(1) through A(8), respectively; in Paragraph A(5), designated former Paragraphs E(1) through E(4) as Subparagraphs A(5)(a) through A(5)(d), respectively; and added a new Subsection B.