Mich. Comp. Laws § 722.716a — MI Code / Chapter 722 / Act Act-205-of-1956 / Section 722.716a
Information obtained from genetic paternity testing; disclosure prohibited; retention and destruction of material; confidentiality; sale, transfer, or offer; audit; violation as misdemeanor; penalty.
Status: in_force

Sec. 6a.

Except as authorized under this act, a person shall not disclose information obtained from genetic paternity testing that is authorized under this act.

If an alleged father who is tested as part of an action under this act is found to be the child's father, the contracting laboratory shall retain the genetic testing material of the alleged father, mother, and child for no longer than the period of years prescribed by the national standards under which the laboratory is accredited. If a man is found not to be the child's father, the contracting laboratory shall destroy the man's genetic testing material after it is used in the paternity action, in compliance with section 13811 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.13811, and in the presence of a witness. The witness may be an individual who is a party to the destruction of the genetic testing material. After the man's genetic testing material is destroyed, the contracting laboratory shall make and keep a written record of the destruction and have the individual who witnessed the destruction sign the record. The contracting laboratory shall also expunge the contracting laboratory's records regarding the genetic paternity testing performed on the genetic testing material in accordance with the national standards under which the laboratory is accredited. The contracting laboratory shall retain the genetic testing material of the mother and child for no longer than the period of years prescribed by the national standards under which the laboratory is accredited. After a contracting laboratory destroys an individual's genetic testing material as provided in this subsection, it shall notify the adult individual, or the parent or legal guardian of a minor individual, by certified mail that the genetic testing material was destroyed.

A contracting laboratory, the family independence agency or its designee, or another entity involved with the genetic paternity testing are all required to protect the confidentiality of genetic testing material, except as required for a paternity determination under this act. The court, its officers, and the family independence agency shall not use or disclose genetic testing material for a purpose other than the paternity determination as authorized by this act.

A person shall not sell, transfer, or offer genetic testing material obtained under this act except as authorized by this act.

A contracting laboratory shall annually cause to be conducted an independent audit verifying the contracting laboratory's compliance with this section and section 6. The audit shall not disclose the names of, or otherwise identify, the test subjects required to submit to blood or tissue typing or DNA identification profiling under section 6 during the previous year. The contracting laboratory shall forward the audit to the department of consumer and industry services.

A violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000.00. A second or subsequent violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine of not more than $10,000.00, or both.

History: Add. 1998, Act 113, Eff. Aug. 10, 1998; Am. 2000, Act 31, Imd. Eff. Mar. 15, 2000