Section 1603.3 Of Article 2. Human Whole Blood And Human Whole Blood Derivatives From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 2. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 2.
1603.3
. (a) Prior to a donation of blood or blood components, each
donor shall be notified in writing of, and shall have signed a
written statement confirming the notification of, all of the
following:
(1) That the blood or blood components shall be tested for
evidence of antibodies to HIV.
(2) That the donor shall be notified of the test results in
accordance with the requirements described in subdivision (c).
(3) That the donor blood or blood component that is found to have
the antibodies shall not be used for transfusion.
(4) That blood or blood components shall not be donated for
transfusion purposes by a person if the person may have reason to
believe that he or she has been exposed to HIV or AIDS.
(5) That the donor is required to complete a health screening
questionnaire to assist in the determination as to whether he or she
may have been exposed to HIV or AIDS.
(b) A blood bank or plasma center shall incorporate voluntary
means of self-deferral for donors. The means of self-deferral may
include, but are not limited to, a form with checkoff boxes
specifying that the blood or blood components are for research or
test purposes only and a telephone callback system for donors to use
in order to inform the blood bank or plasma center that blood or
blood components donated should not be used for transfusion. The
blood bank or plasma center shall inform the donor, in a manner that
is understandable to the donor, that the self-deferral process is
available and should be used if the donor has reason to believe that
he or she is infected with HIV. The blood bank or plasma center shall
also inform the donor that it is a felony pursuant to Section 1621.5
to donate blood if the donor knows that he or she has a diagnosis of
AIDS or knows that he or she has tested reactive to HIV.
(c) Blood or blood components from any donor initially found to
have serologic evidence of antibodies to HIV shall be retested for
confirmation. Only if a further test confirms the conclusion of the
earlier test shall the donor be notified of a reactive result by the
blood bank or plasma center.
The department shall develop permissive guidelines for blood banks
and plasma centers on the method to be used to notify a donor of a
test result.
(d) Each blood bank or plasma center operating in California shall
prominently display at each of its collection sites a notice that
provides the addresses and telephone numbers of sites, within the
proximate area of the blood bank or plasma center, where anonymous
HIV antibody testing provided pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with
Section 120885) of Part 4 of Division 105 may be administered without
charge.
(e) The department may promulgate any additional regulations it
deems necessary to enhance the safety of donated blood and blood
components. The department may also promulgate regulations it deems
necessary to safeguard the consistency and accuracy of HIV test
results by requiring any confirmatory testing the department deems
appropriate for the particular types of HIV tests that have yielded
"reactive," "positive," "indeterminate," or other similarly labeled
results.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no civil liability
or criminal sanction shall be imposed for disclosure of test results
to a local health officer when the disclosure is necessary to locate
and notify a blood or blood components donor of a reactive result if
reasonable efforts by the blood bank or plasma center to locate the
donor have failed. Upon completion of the local health officer's
efforts to locate and notify a blood or blood components donor of a
reactive result, all records obtained from the blood bank or plasma
center pursuant to this subdivision, or maintained pursuant to this
subdivision, including, but not limited to, any individual
identifying information or test results, shall be expunged by the
local health officer.