Clinicians and KDHE urge Kansas to allow expedited partner therapy in Senate hearing on SB 448
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Summary
Clinicians, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and local health officials told the Senate Public Health and Welfare committee that Senate Bill 448, which would authorize expedited partner therapy for sexually transmitted infections, is safe, evidence-based and would reduce reinfections and public-health costs; no opponents testified and the committee took no vote.
A Senate Public Health and Welfare committee hearing on Senate Bill 448 drew unanimous proponent testimony arguing the measure would reduce sexually transmitted infections by allowing clinicians to provide expedited partner therapy (EPT) to partners of diagnosed patients.
Jenna, a committee staff member, briefed the panel on SB 448, saying the bill would create a new statutory section authorizing a licensed health-care provider (physician, APRN or physician assistant) who diagnoses a patient with an STI to prescribe or dispense antimicrobial treatment to that patient’s partner if the provider judges the partner unlikely or unable to be examined; EPT would be limited to partners exposed in the previous 60 days and identifiable and contactable by the patient. The bill would require the department to supply written materials for distribution and give the agency’s secretary rulemaking authority; the bill’s authors propose an effective date tied to publication and listed 07/01/2026 as an implementation target.
Dr. Patrick Allen, a family medicine physician at Ascension Via Christi and a University of Kansas family-medicine faculty member, told the committee EPT is a practical tool to reach partners who do not seek care. “We know that expedited partner therapy works,” Allen said, adding that clinicians across political lines support the practice. Allen told senators EPT protects women, men who do not present for care and unborn children in pregnancy, and urged passage.
Dr. Tara Chediar, an OB-GYN who chairs the Kansas section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the state maternal mortality review committee, described clinical harms from untreated infections in pregnancy. “When we think about syphilis, that is one of the infections we refer to as a TORCH infection,” Chediar said, explaining untreated syphilis can cross the placenta and cause long-term neurologic harm; she added that untreated gonorrhea or chlamydia can cause preterm labor and neonatal conjunctivitis, which risks blindness if not treated. Chediar said EPT lets clinicians give both patients and identified partners prescriptions promptly to avoid reinfection.
Dr. Derek Totten, chief medical officer for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), said KDHE strongly supports SB 448 and described EPT as an addition to — not a replacement for — comprehensive clinical evaluation. Totten cited KDHE case counts, saying the department’s estimates for 2025 were “over 10,000 cases of chlamydia and over 2,400 cases of gonorrhea.” He and witnesses noted endorsement by professional societies including ACOG, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Medical Association.
A KDHE Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention representative gave longer-term trend numbers on the record, stating that in recent years the state has seen roughly 13,000 chlamydia cases, about 5,000 gonorrhea cases and about 1,300 syphilis cases; the representative also read 2024 counts into the record.
Brandy Bowman of the Kansas Association of Local Health Departments said local departments — which serve all 105 counties — bear recurring costs when partners remain untreated and urged lawmakers to pass EPT, calling it a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–recognized best practice. “Can we please get this over the finish line?” Bowman said, noting Kansas is among the last states to consider EPT.
Senators pressed witnesses on several implementation questions: safety for partners who are not examined, treatment of multiple partners, urgent-care logistics and the fiscal impact on local health departments. Chediar said allergic reactions to the commonly used antibiotics are the principal theoretical risk but are uncommon; she said clinicians would treat all identified partners and that urgent-care clinics can treat presumptively but sometimes lack full contact information for follow-up. Bowman and other witnesses said treating partners once is cheaper over time than repeated treatment of the same patient and that local public-health budgets have declined.
The committee record included a large number of written proponent statements and no in-person opponents. The chair closed questioning and adjourned the hearing without a committee vote. SB 448’s text and the department’s implementation materials would determine practice details if the Legislature enacts the bill.
