Legal Status of EPT in Montana

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

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)

[+] Public health department regulations incorporate by reference CDC’s 2021 STI Treatment Guidelines for chlamydia (Mont.Admin.R. 37.114.515) and gonorrhea (Mont.Admin.R. 37.114.530).

[+] Public health department regulations incorporate by reference the American Public Health Association’s Control of Communicable Diseases Manual (20th Edition, 2015). Mont.Admin.R. 37.114.501.

[+] (1) The department adopts and incorporates by reference the following publications: […] (a) The “Control of Communicable Diseases Manual, An Official Report of the American Public Health Association”, 21st edition, 2022, which lists and specifies control measures for communicable diseases. […](c) The “Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2021,” published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the July 23, 2021, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, volume 70, hereafter referred to as “Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2021,” and specify the most currently accepted effective treatments for sexually transmitted infections.” Mont.Admin.R. 37.114.105

V. Prescription requirements

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

EPT is permissible. Administrative regulations incorporate by reference the 2015 CDC STD Treatment Guidelines and the 2015 American Public Health Association’s Control of Communicable Diseases Manual. These regulations, plus the lack of contrary statutory or regulatory provisions, suggest that EPT is permissible.