HIV-Related Test Confidentiality
Iowa HIV Confidentiality Law
Health
Iowa treats HIV-related test information as strictly confidential medical information. Test results may be released only to the person tested, to people with the subject's written release, to treating providers and staff with a medical need to know, to public health authorities, and under narrow court orders that use pseudonyms and weigh privacy interests.
- Where
- Iowa
- Citation
- Iowa Code 141A.9 and 141A.11 (ch. 141A)
- Status
- In force
- Last amended
- 2023-07-01
- Enforced by
- Aggrieved individuals (civil action); Iowa Attorney General (civil enforcement)
- People can sue
- Yes
- Penalties
- Aggrieved persons may sue for damages within two years; care providers who intentionally or recklessly make an unauthorized disclosure face a $1,000 civil penalty; the Attorney General may sue to enforce (141A.11).
- Applies to
- Any person or entity holding information, reports, or records obtained, submitted, or maintained under Iowa's HIV/AIDS chapter, including health care providers, health facilities, and recipients of HIV-related test results (141A.9)
Practices it requires
- Keep HIV-related information strictly confidential; do not release it, even by subpoena or warrant, except as the chapter allows, and do not identify tested persons.Iowa Code 141A.9(1)
- Release HIV-related test results only to the subject or guardian, a person holding the subject's written release, providers and staff with a medical need to know, the health department, organ and tissue users, and court-ordered recipients meeting a compelling-need test.Iowa Code 141A.9(2)
Other duties
- Court proceedings seeking disclosure must use a pseudonym for the test subject and give the subject notice and a chance to participate.Iowa Code 141A.9(2)(g)
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Original effective date of the confidentiality provision not determined (current chapter 141A dates to 1999 Acts ch. 181). Last amendment (2023 Acts ch. 19, state government reorganization) is technical; date inferred from the July 1 default.
Research reference, not legal advice.