Legal Status of EPT in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

I. Statutes/regs on health care providers’ authority to prescribe for STDs to a patient’s partner(s) w/out prior evaluation

[+] “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a health care provider who is licensed to diagnose and prescribe drugs for a sexually transmitted gonorrhea, chlamydia, or trichomoniasis infection, and who diagnoses a sexually transmitted gonorrhea, chlamydia, or trichomoniasis infection in an adult patient, may provide expedited partner therapy to said patient’s sexual partner or partners, and shall not be subject to civil or professional liability, except for in cases of willful or wanton misconduct, provided that said partner(s) have no known antibiotic allergies, and that the medication/prescription includes clear instructions, and appropriate warnings. Health care providers providing expedited partner therapy shall also provide education to the patient on the treatment strategy, and shall still recommend that the patient’s adult partner(s) see a health care provider in person for STD and HIV testing.” 3 N. Mar. I. Code § 21102

[-] “’Patient,’ as used in any context in this Chapter, means a person for whom health care professional services are performed or to whom health care products or services are sold or provided at the site of a health care professional’s practice or through referral to another location or business in which the health care professional has a material interest” NMIAC § 140-50.3-305*

II. Specific judicial decisions concerning EPT (or like practices)

III. Specific administrative opinions by the Attorney General or medical or pharmacy boards concerning EPT (or like practices)

IV. Laws that incorporate via reference guidelines as acceptable practices (including EPT)

V. Prescription requirements

[+] “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a pharmacist may dispense antibiotic medication prescribed as expedited partner therapy treatment for a patient’s adult sexual partner(s), and shall not be subject to civil or professional liability, except for in cases of willful or wanton misconduct, provided that the medication/prescription includes clear instructions, and appropriate warnings.” 3 N. Mar. I. Code § 21102

[-] “The Pharmacist shall not dispense a Prescription Drug if the Pharmacist knows or reasonably should know that the Prescription Drug Order was issued solely on the basis of an Internet-based questionnaire, an Internet-based consultation, or a telephonic consultation, all without a valid Patient-Practitioner relationship” NMIAC § 140-50.3-3571*
[-] “’Compounding’ means the preparation of Components into a Drug product (1) as the result of a Practitioner’s Prescription Drug Order or initiative based on the Practitioner/patient/Pharmacist relationship in the course of professional practice, or (2) for the purpose of, or as an incident to, research, teaching, or chemical analysis and not for sale or Dispensing.

Compounding includes the preparation of Drugs or Devices in anticipation of receiving Prescription Drug Orders based on routine, regularly observed prescribing patterns.

[…]

(q) “Dispense” or “Dispensing” means the interpretation, evaluation, and implementation of a Prescription Drug Order, including the preparation and Delivery of a Drug or Device to a patient or patient’s agent in a suitable container appropriately labeled for subsequent Administration to, or use by, a patient.” NMIAC § 140-50.3-3500*

[-] “A Prescription Drug Order shall contain the following information at a minimum: (a) full name, date of birth, and street address or P.O. Box of the patient” NMIAC § 140-50.3-3570*

VI. Assessment of EPT’s legal status with brief comments

EPT is permissible. Statutory authority expressly authorizes EPT for the treatment of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis, subject to various conditions as stated in the law