(a) Each physician who diagnoses and/or treats a person for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and each laboratory which concludes with a result diagnostic of HIV infection or AIDS shall report such fact(s) to the Commissioner of the Department of Health, or an authorized representative, in the manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Health pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the Department of Health but which shall ensure the confidentiality of such reporting.
(b) The Commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations specifying the manner in which the reporting required in subsection (a) of this section shall occur utilizing a single suitable method or a combination of methods, which shall contain identifying information of persons and which shall ensure the confidentiality of the report.
(c) In addition to the rules and regulations required by subsection (b) of this section, the Commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations specifying the information required, and a minimum time period for reporting cases of HIV infection and AIDS not to exceed two weeks. In adopting such rules and regulations, the Commissioner shall consider the need for information, protection for the privacy and confidentiality of the patient, and the practical ability of persons and laboratories to report in a reasonable fashion.
(d) The Commissioner shall require reporting of all physician diagnosed cases of AIDS based upon diagnostic criteria, as set forth by the Centers for Disease Control of the United States Public Health Service. The report shall contain identifying information of persons and other information required by the Department of Health.
(e) The rules and regulations required to be promulgated by the Commissioner of Health pursuant to this section shall specify the protocol for the reporting required or permitted by subsections (a) and (d), of this section. The protocol developed for implementation of subsection (a) and (d) shall include information to be given to the client during HIV pre- and post-test counseling; establishing the availability of partner notification through the Department of Health or an authorized representative; the benefits of the aforementioned services; and the confidentiality protection available as part of such services.
(f)
(1) All tests, information and records held by the Department of Health or its authorized representatives and by hospitals and other medical facilities relating to known or suspected cases of HIV infection and AIDS shall be strictly confidential. Such information shall not be released or made public by the Department of Health or its authorized representatives, any hospital or other medical facility, or by a court or parties to a lawsuit upon revelation by subpoena, except that release may be made with the consent of all persons to which the information applies, for statistical purposes, and medical or epidemiologic information is summarized so that no person can be identified and no names are revealed, and to medical personnel, appropriate territorial or state agencies, or courts of appropriate jurisdiction, to enforce the provisions of this section and section 32b.
(2) When disclosure is made pursuant to a subpoena, such information shall be sealed by the court from further disclosure, except as deemed necessary by the court to reach a decision, unless otherwise agreed to by all parties. Except as provided in this section, such information that is disclosed pursuant to a subpoena or through testimony in a civil or criminal proceeding is confidential.
(3) No employee of the Department of Health, any hospital, or other medical facility, shall be examined in a civil, criminal, special, or other proceeding as to the existence or contents of pertinent records of a person examined or diagnosed or treated for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or human immune deficiency virus infection (HIV) by the department or its authorized representatives, or by any hospital, or other medical facility, or its authorized representatives, or of the existence or contents of such reports received from a private physician or private health facility, without the consent of the person examined and treated for such disease or infection, except in a civil or criminal proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction in which the question of infection is put in issue.
(g) Any person who violates the provisions of this section with respect to the confidentiality of persons tested for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or human immune deficiency virus infection (HIV) or the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this section and section 32b of this title, by unauthorized disclosure of such information may be terminated from his position of employment and may be fined up to $3,000 for each offense of unauthorized disclosure. No person, including representatives of the Department of Health, or other medical personnel, shall be held liable in a civil or criminal action for revelation of such information when disclosed through testimony in a civil or criminal proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction.
(h) Physicians and laboratories failing to fulfill the aforementioned reporting requirements for HIV infection and AIDS or the rules and regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of Health, may receive written notification of this failure. Physicians and laboratories failing to meet these reporting requirements, despite warning, shall be fined by the Department of Health up to $500 for each offense. The Department of Health shall report each violation of this section to the Board of Medical Examiners of the Virgin Islands, the Department of Justice, the Department of Police and for laboratories to the Virgin Islands Clinical Laboratory Improvement Services.