reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 111 § 4m (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 4m - Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C; Needs Assessment; Prevention, Education, Outreach and Surveillance Programs; Annual Report

Section 4M. Subject to appropriation, the department shall:  (1) conduct a needs assessment to determine the incidence and prevalence of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus in the commonwealth;  (2) develop and implement a program to prevent further transmission of viral hepatitis and to prevent onset of chronic liver disease caused by viral hepatitis;  (3) develop and implement a statewide public education and community outreach program to raise awareness and promote prevention of viral hepatitis;  (4) develop or approve evidence-based educational materials on the risks, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of viral hepatitis; provided that, the materials shall be made available in written and electronic form and shall be targeted to physicians and other health care providers and high-risk populations subject to an increased risk of contracting viral hepatitis as determined by the department;  (5) support the establishment and maintenance of a chronic and acute hepatitis B and hepatitis C surveillance program in order to identify (i) trends in the incidence of acute and chronic hepatitis B and acute and chronic hepatitis C, (ii) trends in the prevalence of acute and chronic hepatitis B and acute and chronic hepatitis C infection among groups that may be disproportionately affected and (iii) trends in liver cancer and end-stage liver disease incidence and deaths caused by chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C in high-risk populations; and  (6) annually report on the department's viral hepatitis education, awareness and prevention education and community outreach efforts to the joint committee on public health on or before January 1.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 4m1/2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 4m1/2 - Hepatitis C Screening Test or Hepatitis C Diagnostic Test for Persons Born Between 1945 and 1965

Section 4M1/2. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:—  ''Hepatitis C diagnostic test'', a laboratory test that detects the presence of hepatitis C virus in the blood and confirms whether the person whose blood is being tested has a hepatitis C virus infection.  ''Hepatitis C screening test'', any FDA–approved laboratory screening test, FDA–approved rapid point-of-care test or other FDA–approved tests that detect the presence of hepatitis C antibodies in the blood.  (b) Every person born between the years of 1945 and 1965 who receives health care services from a primary care provider shall be offered a hepatitis C screening test or a Hepatitis C diagnostic test unless the provider believes that: (i) the person is being treated for a life threatening emergency; (ii) the person has previously been offered or has received a hepatitis screening test; or (iii) the person lacks capacity to consent to a hepatitis C screening test.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 4n (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 4n - Prescription Drugs Outreach and Education Program for Physicians, Pharmacists and Other Health Care Professionals

Section 4N. (a) The department shall, in cooperation with Commonwealth Medicine at the University of Massachusetts medical school, develop, implement and promote an evidence-based outreach and education program about the therapeutic and cost-effective utilization of prescription drugs for physicians, pharmacists and other health care professionals authorized to prescribe and dispense prescription drugs. In developing the program, the department shall consult with physicians, pharmacists, private insurers, hospitals, pharmacy benefit managers, the MassHealth drug utilization review board and the University of Massachusetts medical school.  (b) The program shall arrange for physicians, pharmacists and nurses under contract with the department to conduct face-to-face visits with prescribers, utilizing evidence-based materials and borrowing methods from behavioral science, educational theory and, where appropriate, pharmaceutical industry data and outreach techniques; provided, however, that to the extent possible, the program shall inform prescribers about drug marketing that is intended to circumvent competition from generic or other therapeutically-equivalent pharmaceutical alternatives or other evidence-based treatment options.  The program shall include outreach to: physicians and other health care practitioners who participate in MassHealth, the subsidized catastrophic prescription drug insurance program authorized in section 39 of chapter 19A; other publicly-funded, contracted or subsidized health care programs; academic medical centers; and other prescribers.  The department shall, to the extent possible, utilize or incorporate into its program other independent educational resources or models proven effective in promoting high quality, evidenced-based, cost-effective information regarding the effectiveness and safety of prescription drugs, including, but not limited to: (i) the Pennsylvania PACE/Harvard University Independent Drug Information Service; (ii) the Academic Detailing Program of the University of Vermont College of Medicine Area Health Education Centers; (iii) the Oregon Health and Science University Evidence-based Practice Center's Drug Effectiveness Review project; and (iv) the North Carolina evidence-based peer-to-peer education program outreach program.  (c) The department may establish and collect fees for subscriptions and contracts with private payers. The department may seek funding from nongovernmental health access foundations and undesignated drug litigation settlement funds associated with pharmaceutical marketing and pricing practices.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 4o (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 4o - Appointment of Dental Director; Office of Oral Health; Responsibilities

Section 4O. (a) Subject to appropriation, the commissioner shall appoint a dental director. The dental director shall serve at the pleasure of the commissioner and shall be a dentist licensed in the commonwealth with public health experience. The department may establish additional qualifications for the position of dental director by regulation. The dental director shall oversee the department of public health dental program to increase access to oral health services, oral health prevention activities and other initiatives to address oral health disparities.  (b) There shall be an office of oral health within the department with responsibilities that shall include, but not be limited to:  (1) providing recommendations and guidance to the department and other individuals or entities as the office determines including, but not limited to, other departments, agencies, community providers and the legislature for preventing oral diseases and for improving, promoting and protecting oral health with a focus on underserved populations and reducing oral health disparities;  (2) monitoring, studying and appraising the commonwealth's oral health needs and resources;  (3) fostering the development, expansion and evaluation of oral health services for residents of the commonwealth in collaboration with key partners including, but not limited to, MassHealth, the department of youth services, the department of children and families, the department of mental retardation, the department of mental health, the executive office of elderly affairs, the board of registration in dentistry, the department of elementary and secondary education and the department of early education and care;  (4) providing information and education concerning oral health to the dental and health community and to the public;  (5) promoting and providing technical assistance, monitoring and evaluating population-based dental programs including, but not limited to, community water fluoridation programs, school prevention programs, mobile and portable dental programs and other programs to improve access to services;  (6) developing policies to promote oral health; and  (7) developing related programs, policies and preventive measures that impact oral health.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 5 - Powers and Duties of Department

Section 5. The department shall take cognizance of the interests of life, health, comfort and convenience among the citizens of the commonwealth; shall conduct sanitary investigations and investigations as to the causes of disease, and especially of epidemics, and the sale of food and drugs and adulterations thereof; and shall disseminate such information relating thereto as it considers proper. It shall advise the government concerning the location and other sanitary condition of any public institution. It may produce and distribute immunological, diagnostic and therapeutic agents as it may deem advisable, and may sell such portions of such materials produced in its laboratories as constitute an excess over those required for its use within the commonwealth.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 5a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 5a - Preparation and Distribution of Antitoxins, Serums, Vaccines and Products Applicable to Prevention and Cure of Diseases

Section 5A. Whenever the commissioner determines that the inoculation of the general public by, or the administration to the general public of, any antitoxin, serum, vaccine or other analogous product is essential in the interest of the public health and that an emergency exists by reason of a shortage of such product, the department may purchase, produce and distribute such product under such conditions and restrictions as it may prescribe; and while such emergency exists, as determined by the commissioner, the department may establish by written order or orders, rules and priorities for the distribution and use of any such product within the commonwealth. Whoever violates any provision of any such order shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.  The department, with the approval of the executive office for administration and finance, may, for the purpose of aiding in national defense in case of war or in any national emergency declared by the president, prepare and distribute without as well as within the commonwealth, and sell or give away, in its discretion, antitoxins, serums, vaccines, viruses and analogous products applicable to the prevention or cure of diseases of man, for the use of the armed forces of the United States or in civilian defense work. This paragraph shall not curtail any powers or duties of the department under section five.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 5a1/2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 5a1/2 - Emergency Stockpile Trust Fund

Section 5A1/2. (a) There is hereby established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate trust fund to be known as the Emergency Stockpile Trust Fund to effectively facilitate emergency management and pandemic preparedness in accordance with section 5A. The fund shall consist of monies collected under this section and any income derived from the investing of amounts credited to the fund. The department shall accept monies from municipalities, counties, healthcare facilities and other entities to participate in federal contracts under 42 U.S.C. section 247d–6b and made available to states under 42 USC section 247d–3a. The commissioner shall be the trustee of the fund.  (b) Participating municipalities, counties, and healthcare facilities shall cooperate with the department to ensure that the lowest cost prices are obtained for necessary medicines and associated supplies. The commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, shall decide whether medicine and associated supplies are acceptable for the purposes of this section. The department shall designate an employee within the department to administer the development and execution of the fund.  (c) The department shall oversee the distribution of the funds and shall ensure that the distribution complies with the commonwealth's emergency management plan. All monies deposited in the fund shall be expended on behalf of the contributing municipalities, counties or healthcare facilities for the purchase of health care products and supplies needed for the purposes set forth in the commonwealth's comprehensive emergency management plan and made available under contracts accessible to the commonwealth under 42 USC section 247d–3a and to support any reasonable and necessary administrative costs incurred by the department in managing the purchase of such products and supplies or otherwise overseeing the distribution of monies deposited into the fund. All monies deposited into the fund shall be expended exclusively for the purposes set forth in this section.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 5d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 5d - Plastic Bags and Film; Rules and Regulations

Section 5D. The department shall make such rules and regulations concerning labeling, thickness and methods of use of plastic bags and plastic film as it shall deem necessary for the protection of the lives and safety of the public, which rules and regulations may provide penalties for the violation thereof not exceeding five hundred dollars for any one offence.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 5e (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 5e - Application of Chemicals to Control Aquatic Nuisances; Licenses; Rules and Regulations; Violations; Penalties; Applicability of Section

Section 5E. No person shall for the purpose of controlling algae, weeds and other aquatic nuisances therein apply chemicals to a lake, pond, stream, or other body of water within the territorial limits of the commonwealth without first obtaining a license from the department of environmental protection in this section and sections five F and five G, called the department. The department shall, upon payment of a fee to be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven, issue such license to any person whom it deems responsible and qualified to apply chemicals to lakes, ponds, streams, and other bodies of water for the control of algae, weeds and aquatic nuisances. Such license shall be valid for a period of two years, and may upon payment of a similar fee be renewed by the department for a like period. It shall not be transferable or assignable. Any such license may be revoked for cause by the department. Any applicant or licensee aggrieved by the failure of the department to grant an original license or to renew the same or by the revocation of such license may, within thirty days after such failure or revocation, appeal in writing to the commissioner of the department of environmental management of the executive office of environmental affairs. Said commissioner shall within twenty days of the receipt of such appeal give the appellant a hearing and shall, within thirty days after such hearing, render a decision which shall be a matter of public record.  The department may, after a public hearing, establish rules and regulations relative to the issuance of licenses and the application of chemicals for the control of algae, weeds and other aquatic nuisances and may from time to time amend the same in like manner and may provide penalties for violations of said rules and regulations not exceeding five hundred dollars for any one offence.  Whoever, not being licensed, applies chemicals to a body of water for the purpose of controlling algae, weeds and other aquatic nuisances, except as hereinafter provided, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than five hundred dollars.  This section shall not apply to employees and agents of the departments of environmental protection, environmental management, and fisheries, wildlife, and recreational vehicles or of the state reclamation board or of related federal agencies, while in the conduct of their official duties, nor shall it apply to the use of chemicals in privately owned ponds from which there are no flowing outlets, or to algaecides approved by the department and used by legally established water supply agencies to control taste and odors.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 5g (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 5g - Water Supply; Treatment Facilities

Section 5G. The department may require by order a city, town, person or district maintaining a water supply to provide and operate such treatment facilities as are in its opinion necessary to insure the delivery of a safe water supply to all consumers. The supreme judicial or the superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity to enforce any such order.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 5i (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 5i - Laser Equipment; Rules and Regulations; Penalties for Violation

Section 5I. The department may from time to time, after a public hearing, adopt, alter or repeal such rules and regulations relative to the use of laser systems, devices or equipment as it shall deem necessary to protect the public from the hazards of laser rays or beams, with penalties for the violation thereof not exceeding five hundred dollars for any particular offense. Such rules and regulations may require the registration of said systems, devices or equipment.  This section shall not be construed as limiting the powers of the department of labor standards under the provisions of chapter one hundred and forty-nine relative to the prevention of accidents or injuries to employees.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 5j (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 5j - Radiation Treatment; Clinical Precautions

Section 5J. Any person who administers radiation treatment of any kind to another person shall use lead shields to protect such other person when clinically appropriate. If such other person is a female, any person who so administers such radiation treatment shall inform her that radiation can be hazardous to an unborn child, shall inquire whether such female believes she is pregnant, and if the answer is affirmative, take clinically appropriate precautions before administering such treatment.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 5m (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 5m - Definitions Applicable to Secs. 5m to 5p

Section 5M. As used in sections five M to five P, inclusive, or the rules and regulations adopted under said sections, the following words shall, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, have the following meanings:—  ''By-product material'', any radioactive material, except special nuclear material, yielded in or made radioactive by exposure to the radiation incident to the process of producing or utilizing special nuclear material.  ''General license'', a license effective under rules and regulations adopted by the department without the filing of an application with the department or the issuance of licensing documents to particular persons to transfer, acquire, own, possess or use quantities of, or devices or equipment utilizing radioactive material.  ''Person'', any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, agency of the commonwealth other than the department, any political subdivision of the commonwealth, any other state or political subdivision or agency thereof, and any legal successor, representative, agent or agency of the foregoing, but not including federal government agencies.  ''Source material'', uranium or thorium, or any combination thereof, in any physical or chemical form; or ores which contain by weight one-twentieth of one per cent or more of uranium, thorium, or any combination thereof. Source material does not include special nuclear material.  ''Special nuclear material'', plutonium, uranium 233, and uranium enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, but not including source material; or any material artificially enriched by any of the foregoing, but not including source material.  ''Specific license'', a license, issued to a named person upon application filed under the rules and regulations adopted by the department, to use, manufacture, produce, transfer, receive, acquire, or possess quantities of, or devices or equipment utilizing, radioactive material.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 5p (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 5p - Use, Manufacture, Production, Transfer, Receipt, Acquisition, Ownership or Possession of Radiation Sources; License or Registration Requirement; Penalties

Section 5P. It shall be unlawful for any person to use, manufacture, produce, transfer, receive, acquire, own, or possess any source of radiation unless licensed, registered or exempted from licensing or registration requirements by the department pursuant to section five N. Any person who violates said section five N or five O, or any rule, regulation, license, registration or order adopted or issued under said section five N or five O shall be fined not less than one hundred nor more than two thousand dollars, or be imprisoned for a period of not more than two years, or both. Any person who continues to violate the provisions of this section after due notice by the department shall be fined not less than one thousand nor more than twenty thousand dollars or be imprisoned for a period of not more than twenty years, or both. After due notice has been issued by the department, each day of such violation shall constitute a separate offense.
MA Gen L ch 111 § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111 - Public Health|Section 6 - Power to Define Diseases Deemed Dangerous to Public Health; Control and Prevention

Section 6. The department shall have the power to define, and shall from time to time define, what diseases shall be deemed to be dangerous to the public health, and shall make such rules and regulations consistent with law for the control and prevention of such diseases as it deems advisable for the protection of the public health. The department shall also have the power to define, and shall from time to time so define, what diseases shall be included within the term venereal diseases in the provisions of the laws relative to public health.