Florida State University Law Review Volume 16 Issue 3 Article 2 Fall 1988 Florida's Omnibus AIDS Act of 1988 Robert Craig Waters Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.law.fsu.edu/lr Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Health Law and Policy Commons, and the Legislation Commons Recommended Citation Robert C. Waters, Florida's Omnibus AIDS Act of 1988, 16 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 441 (1988) . https://ir.law.fsu.edu/lr/vol16/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Florida State University Law Review by an authorized editor of Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ARTICLES FLORIDA'S OMNIBUS AIDS ACT OF 1988t ROBERT CRAIG WATERS In response to the growing fears and sometimes irrationalattitudes associated with the deadly disease AIDS, the 1988 Florida Legislature passed the Omnibus AIDS Act, affecting twelve substantive areas of law. In this Article, the authorexamines each of these areas, suggests the most likely interpretation the courts will accord the new provisions, and makes recommendations to correct oversights and inconsistenciesin existing laws. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. THE NONDISCRIMINATION PROVISIONS ........................ 449 A. HIV Nondiscrimination Before the Omnibus AIDS Act: Shuttleworth ................................. 449 1. Defining "Handicap" Under Shuttleworth .... 450 2. Extending "Handicap" to Other HIV-Related Discrimination....................... 453 (a) People with ARC ............................. 454 (b) Asymptomatic HIV Infection ............. 454 (c) Perception of HIV Infection ............... 456 (d) The Possibility of FutureHIV Infection 457 B. The Omnibus AIDS Act: Codifying and Supplementing Shuttleworth ............................. 458 1. Policies Underlying the Nondiscrimination Provisions.............................................. 462 2. The Omnibus AIDS Act as Remedial Legislation ............................................. 466 C. Applying Florida's Nondiscrimination Provisions to Housing and FederalLaw ............................ 467 t © 1989 by Robert Craig Waters. All rights reserved. 42 FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITYLAWREVIEW [Vol. 16:441 1. Florida'sFair Housing Act ........................ 468 2. The FederalRehabilitation Act of 1973 ......... 470 D. DiscriminationBased on HIV Tests ................... 471 1. Requiring Work-Related HIV Tests ............. 472 2. DiscriminationBased on the Results of HIV Tests ..................................................... 473 E. Discrimination in Housing, Accommodations, and Governmental Services .................................... 481 1. Discriminationin Housing ......................... 482 2. Discriminationin Public Accommodations .... 483 3. Discriminationin Governmental Services ...... 484 F. Discriminationby Entities Receiving State FinancialAssistance ....................................... 485 G. DiscriminationAgainst Health Care Workers ...... 488 H. Enforcement Provisions.................................. 490 II. HIV INFECTION AS A NON-MATERIAL FACT IN REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS ........................................... 490 III. INSURANCE ......................................................... 491 A. Life and Health Insurance Policies .................... 493 1. HIV-Related Testing ................................ 493 2. Sexual Orientation ................................... 495 3. InquiriesAbout Knowledge of HIV Exposure 496 4. Confidentiality and Industry Data Banks ...... 496 5. Forbidden Practices ................................. 496 (a) Group Policies................................. 497 (b) Individual Policies............................ 497 (c) Life Insurance Policies ...................... 499 (d) Limiting Benefits Payablefor HIV-Related Illnesses ........................ 500 (e) Cancellation and Nonrenewal Based on HIV Infection .................................. 500 B. Health Maintenance Organizations.................... 500 IV. THE QUARANTINE AND ISOLATION PROVISIONS .............. 501 A. General Legislative History.............................. 503 B. Isolation and Examination of Individuals............ 505 1. Compulsory Isolation ............................... 506 2. Compulsory Examination and Treatment ...... 506 3. PrehearingDetention ................................ 507 4. ConstitutionalConcerns ............................ 508 C. Quarantineof Places ...................................... 510 V. CRMINAL PROVISIONS ............................................ 510 A. Failureto Notify Sexual Partnersof HIV Infection ..................................................... 511 19881 OMNIBUS AIDS ACT B. Prostitution and Procuring.............................. 511 C. Abolition of the "Year and a Day Rule'". ........... 512 D. Knowingly Donating Infected Blood or Tissue ..... 513 VI. TESTING AND CONFIDENTIALITY PROVISIONS ................ 513 A. GeneralHistory ............................................ 513 B. Registration of Testing Services ......................... 514 C. Informed Consent.......................................... 515 D. Disclosing Test Results and Counseling .............. 516 E. Confidentiality.............................................. 516 F. The Spousal Exception .................................... 517 VII. DRUGS, HOME TESTS, AND THERAPIES FOR HIV INFECTION .......................................................... 518 VIII. HIV IN PRISONS AND JAILS ...................................... 520 IX. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS ....................................... 521 X. DONATION OF BLOOD AND TISSUE .............................. 522 A. Informed Consent ......................................... 522 B. Testing and Disinfection Procedures .................. 523 C. Informing Seropositive Donors......................... 524 XI. EPIDEMIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND PLANNING ............... 524 XII. PATIENT CARE NETWORKS ...................................... 525 XIII. CONCLUSIONS ...................................................... 525 APPENDIX ........................................................... 530 444 FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 16:441 FLORIDA'S OMNIBUS AIDS ACT OF 1988t ROBERT CRAIG WATERS* "[The AIDS epidemic carries the potential to be the greatest natural tragedy in human history"' N 1988 the Florida Legislature faced a grim fact: Florida never has experienced a force as potentially devastating2 as the deadly and t © 1989 by Robert Craig Waters. All rights reserved. * Judicial Assistant to Rosemary Barkett, Justice, The Supreme Court of Florida; A.B., Brown University; J.D., 1986, University of Florida. Mr. Waters, a former journalist in the Tallahassee Capitol press corps, is the author of the practice manual, R.C. WATERS, AIDS AND FLORIDA LAW (D & S Publishers) (forthcoming, 1989). The author extends special thanks to: the Justices of The Supreme Court of Florida, and especially Justice Barkett, for their permission to publish this Article; Representative Lois Fran- kel and Senator William "Doc" Myers for providing access to source material; Tom Cooper of the House Health Care Committee staff, Phil Williams of the Senate Health & Rehabilitative Services staff, and Michael B. Edmonson of Representative Frankel's staff, for invaluable help in compiling legislative history; Jonathan Klein of the Florida Task Force and Lobbyist Charlene Carres for assistance in obtaining other legislative history; Florida Supreme Court Librarian Brian Policy and his staff, Joan Cannon, Jo Dowling and Jo Smyly, for their help in obtaining resource material; Professor William McHugh of Florida State University College of Law for sharing his insights into federal legislation; Karen Hastings of the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services for her assistance in obtaining information on the history of AIDS in Florida; and Cynthia Fuller of the Florida Department of Insurance for assistance in interpreting the insurance provisions of the Omnibus AIDS Act. The views expressed in this Article are entirely those of the author and do not reflect the views of any other individual or institution. This Article is dedicated to the 3,649 Floridians who had died of AIDS by the time this Article was completed. 1. W. MASTERS, V. JOHNSON & R. KOLODNY, CRisIs: HETEROSEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN THE AGE OF AIDS 11 (1988) (emphasis added) [hereinafter MASTERS & JOHNSON]. 2. Florida currently ranks third highest in the cumulative numbers of deaths caused by AIDS. Staff of Fla. H.R. Comm. on Health Care, PCB for HC 88-07 (1988) Staff Analysis 1 (Apr. 13, 1988) (on file with committee) [hereinafter Health Care Analysis]. This ranking en- compasses all AIDS cases reported since June 1981. New York and California ranked first and second, respectively, on April 25, 1988, in terms of cumulative AIDS-related deaths. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL, AIDS WEEKLY SURVEILLANCE REPORT, Apr. 25, 1988, at 2 (copy on file, Florida State University Law Review) [hereinafter CDC REPORT]. However, California, New York, and New Jersey rank first through third, respectively, in terms of active AIDS cases, with Florida ranking fourth. Id. Every American state reports active AIDS cases. Id. Some medical researchers now contend that AIDS is a far more serious health threat than earlier reports sug- gested. They estimate that by the year 2000, unless a vaccine or other effective therapy is devel- oped, there will be a cumulative total of five million full-blown cases of AIDS in the United States alone,