Privacy Law Library

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Education, Prevention, and Control (HIV testing confidentiality)

NH HIV Confidentiality Law

Health

Requires consent for HIV testing (with limited exceptions) and keeps the identity of people tested and their results confidential. Any entity, public or private, holding HIV test information must protect it from unwarranted disclosure, and it may be shared only with written authorization or in narrow clinical, blood-supply and public-health situations.

Where
New Hampshire
Citation
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. 141-F:5 to 141-F:11
Status
In force
In force since
1988-04-30
Last amended
2025-06-17
Enforced by
NH Department of Health and Human Services; prosecutors; individual civil suits
People can sue
Yes
Penalties
Purposeful disclosure of an infected person's identity carries liability for actual damages, costs, attorneys' fees and a civil penalty up to $5,000; purposeful violations of RSA 141-F:5-8 are misdemeanors for natural persons and felonies for other persons.
Applies to
  • Physicians, APRNs, health care facilities, blood and plasma centers and labs performing HIV testing
  • Any department, health care provider, social service agency, organization, business, school or other public or private entity holding HIV testing records

Rights it gives people

  • A person whose HIV status is purposely disclosed in violation may recover actual damages, costs, fees and a civil penalty up to $5,000.RSA 141-F:10

Practices it requires

  • Test for HIV only with the patient's consent, except in specified situations such as blood donations, anonymous research, and certain emergencies or occupational exposures.RSA 141-F:5
  • Disclose HIV test results only to the ordering physician and the commissioner, and to the tested person with counseling.RSA 141-F:7
  • Disclose the identity of a person tested only with written authorization or to health care providers directly involved in the person's care or to blood banks as permitted.RSA 141-F:8, I, III-V

Security duties

  • Maintain all HIV testing records as confidential and protected from inadvertent or unwarranted intrusion.RSA 141-F:8, II

Sources

Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.

Research reference, not legal advice.