STD legislation fails to advance from committee

<p align="justify">Legislation intended to speed up treatment for people with sexually transmitted diseases failed to draw enough support Tuesday from an Illinois Senate panel to advance out of committee.

<p align="justify">Senate Bill 2150 would have implemented a practice called "expedited partner therapy," which means treating the infected partner of someone with an STD even when the partner has not been diagnosed through a medical exam. The proposed bill targeted people with either chlamydia or gonorrhea.

<p align="justify">"This is a big issue in Peoria," the bill's sponsor, Sen. David Koehler, D-Peoria, told members of the Senate Public Health Committee. "We have a severe problem (with STDs). We need to address this."

<p align="justify">After the bill failed to advance, Koehler said he would wait until next year to revisit it.

<p align="justify">John Peller of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago said one reason for the problem is that "only about half of partners of individuals diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases get treatment."

<p align="justify">Peller called expedited partner therapy the "second-choice treatment" for health-care providers.

<p align="justify">"If the provider feels the partner is unable or unlikely to come in for treatment, the provider will either write a prescription or give medications to the patient to give to the partner," Peller said.

<p align="justify">The antibiotics are single-dose and "extremely safe," he said, adding that the legislation is based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

<p align="justify">Some lawmakers said too many questions surround the legislation.

<p align="justify">"Essentially it allows a situation where we hand out prescriptions for antibiotics with no real knowledge as to where they're going, how they're going to be used," said Sen. Christine Radogno, R-Lemont.

<p align="justify">"There's no limit so someone could come in and say, 'I had 10 sex partners, I need 10 prescriptions for antibiotics,'" she added. "We don't know if that's true or not, or if they're going to save those for when their child has the flu."

<p align="justify">Also unclear is who would be liable if people have a bad reaction to a drug prescribed by a physician who never examined them, Radogno said.

<p align="justify">Once it became clear that Koehler's measure wouldn't get the six votes it needed to advance out of the Public Health Committee, he withdrew the bill from consideration.

<p align="justify">"Maybe this committee isn't ready yet," said Sen. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest, who chairs the panel.

<p align="justify">Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com.