Hepatitis C testing.

Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses, registers, and regulates clinical laboratories and various clinical laboratory personnel. Existing law prohibits a person from performing a clinical laboratory test or examination classified as waived under the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 unless the test or examination is performed under the overall operation and administration of a laboratory director and the test or examination is performed by any one of specified professionals and others, including a licensed physician and surgeon or pharmacist. Existing law establishes the Office of AIDS in the department and defines human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the etiologic agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) . Existing law authorizes an HIV counselor who receives specified training and works in specified counseling and testing sites to perform HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV) , or combined HIV/HCV tests, including performing skin punctures for purposes of withdrawing blood for purposes of these tests, as specified. This bill would authorize a hepatitis C counselor who meets specified requirements to perform an HCV test and to order and report HCV test results. The bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to implement and administer these provisions by means of a bulletin or similar instructions. The bill would also add hepatitis C counselors performing an HCV test to the list of professionals authorized to perform a test or examination classified as waived under the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988, as specified.