Changes to the statutes enacted by the 2001 General Assembly, which will convene in January 2001, will be incorporated as soon as possible. Some changes enacted by the 2001 General Assembly may take immediate effect. The State of South Carolina and the South Carolina Legislative Council make no warranty as to the accuracy of the data, and users rely on the data entirely at their own risk. The Legislative Council by law is charged with compiling and publishing the 1976 Code and it is maintained in a database which may be accessed for commercial purposes by contacting the Legislative Council or the office of Legislative Printing and Information Technology Resources. This chapter may be cited as the Physicians' Patient Records Act.
Physician is owner of certain patient records.
The physician is the owner of medical records in his possession that were made in treating a patient and of records transferred to him concerning prior treatment of the patient. A patient or his legal representative has a right to receive a copy of his medical record, or have the record transferred to another physician, upon request, when accompanied by a written authorization from the patient or his representative to release the record. Physician not to release records without express written consent. Except as otherwise provided by law, a physician shall not honor a request for the release of copies of medical records without the receipt of express written consent of the patient or person authorized by law to act on behalf of the patient. A physician may rely on the representations of a health and life insurance carrier or administrator of health and life insurance claims that the authorization of the patient or of a person upon whose status the patient's claim depends for release of the medical record is on file with the carrier as an authorization to release medical information under this chapter.