ouncilmember ihe vans aera
Brandon od
Councilmember AGCheh Council pL A
Anita Bonds
ABILL.
IN TE = COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
To require hospitals, health care facilities and testing centers provide notice regarding the danger
ofreceiving inaccurate results to early testing for Lyme disease.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
25 act may be cited as the Lyme Disease Testing Information Disclosure Act of 2019.
26 Sec.
2. Lyme disease testing notification and disclosure requirement.
27 (a) The Department of Health (DOH) shall require that every hospital, health care
28 facility, and testing center, shall prepare in printed or photocopied form and distribute at the time
29 oftesting to each patient being tested for Lyme disease, and upon request, to the general public
30 an informational notice regarding the serious dangerofreceiving inaccurate results upon early
31 testing.
32 (b) Such information notice shall be designed by DOH and shall contain brief definitions
33 ofLyme related procedures and practices and also include information regarding the dangers of
34 Lyme disease.
 (c) Hospitals, health care facilities, and testing centers may also elect to distribute
additional explanatory material along with the patients informational notice.
(d) DOH shall make the information contained in the notice available on the department's
website and shall cause a sufficient numberofnotices to be printed or photocopied to allow each
primary care provider in the District to provide the notice to patients undergoing testing.
(e) Alll entities previously mentioned in subsection (a) shall provide the following notice
related to Lyme disease to each patient for whomalaboratory test for the presence of Lyme
disease is ordered:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2011, Lyme disease
10 is the sixth fastest growing disease in the United States.
i Your physician has ordered a laboratory test for the presence of Lyme disease for you.
12 Current laboratory testing for Lyme disease can be problematic and standard lab test often result
13 in false negative and false positive results, andif done too early, you cannot have produced
14 enough antibodies to be considered positive because your immune response requires it to
15 develop antibodies.If you are tested for Lyme disease and the results are negative, this does not
16 necessarily mean you do not have Lyme disease. Ifyou continue to experience unexplained
7 symptoms, you should be retested periodically and you should contact your physician ifyou
18 have questions or concerns..
19 Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement.
20 The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal
21 impact statement required by section 4aof the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975,
22 approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code
1-301.47a).
23 Sec. 4. Effective date.
 This act shall take effect after approval by the Mayor (or in the event ofa veto by the
Mayor, overrideofthe veto by the Council, a 30-day period of Congressional review as provided
in section 602(c)(1)ofthe District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973
(87 Stat, 813; D.C. Official Code 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia
Register.