reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-136. Court orders for disclosure of records for law enforcement purposes; confidentiality safeguards.

(A) A portion of a person's sexually transmitted disease test results disclosed to a solicitor or state criminal law enforcement agency pursuant to Section 44-29-135(c) must be obtained by court order upon a finding by the court that the request is valid under Section 44-29-135(c) and that there is a compelling need for the test results. In determining a compelling need, the court must weigh the need for disclosure against both the privacy interest of the test subject and the potential harm to the public interest if disclosure deters future Human Immunodeficiency Virus-related testing and counselling or blood, organ, and semen donation. No information regarding persons other than the subject of the test results must be released. The court shall provide the department and the person who is the subject of the test results with notice and an opportunity to participate in the court hearing.
(B) No court may issue an order solely on the basis of anonymous tips or anonymous information. A person who provides information relied upon by a law enforcement agency or solicitor to obtain records under Section 44-29-135(c) shall sign a sworn affidavit setting forth the facts upon which he bases his allegations. This person shall appear and be subject to examination and cross-examination at the hearing to determine whether an order requiring disclosure should be granted.
(C) Pleadings pertaining to disclosure of test results must substitute a pseudonym for the true name of the subject of the test. The disclosure to the parties of the subject's true name must be communicated in documents sealed by the court. Court proceedings must be conducted in camera unless the subject of the test results requests a hearing in open court. All files regarding the court proceedings must be sealed unless waived by the subject of the test results.
(D) Upon issuance of an order to disclose the test results pursuant to Section 44-29-135(c), the court may impose appropriate safeguards against the unauthorized disclosure of the information including, but not limited to, specifying who may have access to the information, the purposes for which the information must be used, and prohibitions against further disclosure of the information.
HISTORY: 1990 Act No. 523, Section 1.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-140. Penalties pertaining to venereal disease.

Any person who violates any of the provisions of Sections 44-29-60 to 44-29-140, other than Section 44-29-120, or any regulation made by the Department of Health and Environmental Control pursuant to the authority granted by law, or fails or refuses to obey any lawful order issued by any state, county, or municipal health officer, pursuant to Sections 44-29-60 to 44-29-140, or any other law or the regulations prescribed by law, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than thirty days.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-600; 1952 Code Section 32-600; 1942 Code Section 5044-5; 1932 Code Section 1498; Cr. C. '22 Section 443; 1919 (31) 30; 1941 (42) 97; 1988 Act No. 490, Section 11.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-145. Penalty for exposing others to Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

It is unlawful for a person who knows that he is infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) to:
(1) knowingly engage in sexual intercourse, vaginal, anal, or oral, with another person without first informing that person of his HIV infection;
(2) knowingly commit an act of prostitution with another person;
(3) knowingly sell or donate blood, blood products, semen, tissue, organs, or other body fluids;
(4) forcibly engage in sexual intercourse, vaginal, anal, or oral, without the consent of the other person, including one's legal spouse; or
(5) knowingly share with another person a hypodermic needle, syringe, or both, for the introduction of drugs or any other substance into, or for the withdrawal of blood or body fluids from the other person's body without first informing that person that the needle, syringe, or both, has been used by someone infected with HIV.
A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than ten years.
HISTORY: 1988 Act No. 490, Section 1; 1990 Act No. 523, Section 2.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-146. Physicians and state agencies exempt from liability for disclosure of persons carrying Human Immunodeficiency Virus; "contact" defined.

A physician or state agency identifying and notifying a spouse or known contact of a person having Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is not liable for damages resulting from the disclosure.
"Contact" means the exchange of body products or body fluids by sexual acts or percutaneous transmission.
HISTORY: 1988 Act No. 490, Section 1.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-150. Staff of schools and child care centers to be evaluated for tuberculosis before initial hiring.

No person will be initially hired to work in any public or private school, kindergarten, nursery or day care center for infants and children until appropriately evaluated for tuberculosis according to guidelines approved by the Board of Health and Environmental Control. Re-evaluation will not be required for employment in consecutive years unless otherwise indicated by such guidelines.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-691; 1952 Code Section 32-691; 1942 Code Section 5033; 1932 Code Section 5044; Civ. C. '22 Section 2352; 1920 (31) 941; 1979 Act No. 53 Section 1.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-160. Health certificates for employees in schools and child care facilities.

Any person applying for a position in any of the public or private schools, kindergartens, nurseries, or day care centers for infants and children of the State shall, as a prerequisite to employment, secure a health certificate from a licensed physician certifying that such person does not have tuberculosis in an active stage.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-692; 1952 Code Section 32-692; 1942 Code Section 5034, 1932 Code Section 5045; Civ. C. '22 Section 2353; 1920 (31) 941; 1979 Act No. 53 Section 2.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-170. Form of certificate.

The physician shall make the aforesaid certificate on a form supplied by the Department of Health and Environmental Control, whose duty it shall be to provide such forms upon request of the applicant.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-693; 1952 Code Section 32-693; 1942 Code Section 5035; 1932 Code Section 5046; Civ. C. '22 Section 2354; 1920 (31) 941.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-180. School pupils and day care center children to be vaccinated or immunized; department to monitor immunization records of children in day care; exemptions and exclusions.

(A) No superintendent of an institution of learning, no school board or principal of a school, and no owner or operator of a public or private childcare facility as defined in Section 63-13-20 may admit as a pupil or enroll or retain a child or person who cannot produce satisfactory evidence of having been vaccinated or immunized so often as directed by the Department of Health and Environmental Control. Records of vaccinations or immunizations must be maintained by the institution, school, or day care facility to which the child or person has been admitted.
(B) The Department of Health and Environmental Control shall monitor the immunization status of each child who is enrolled or retained in a licensed child day care facility or a registered church or religious child day care facility. The monitoring of day care facilities shall consist of a review of the immunization or vaccination records to insure that required immunizations are complete as recommended and routinely provided by the Department of Health and Environmental Control for all infants and children.
(C) South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Regulation 61-8, as amended, "Vaccination, Screening and Immunization Regarding Contagious Diseases", and its exemptions apply to this section.
(D) A South Carolina Certificate of Special Exemption signed by the school principal, authorized representative, or day care director may be issued to transfer students while awaiting arrival of medical records from their former area of residence or to other students who have been unable to secure immunizations or documentation of immunizations already received. A South Carolina Certificate of Special Exemption may be issued only once and is valid for only thirty calendar days from date of enrollment. At the expiration of this special exemption, the student must present a valid South Carolina Certificate of Immunization, a valid South Carolina Certificate of Medical Exemption, or a valid South Carolina Certificate of Religious Exemption.
(E) Registered family day care homes are exempt from requirements of this section.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-694; 1952 Code Section 32-694; 1942 Code Section 5040; 1932 Code Sections 5012, 7363; Civ. C. '22 Sections 2323, 4495; Civ. C. '12 Sections 1582, 3061; 1905 (24) 869, 871; 1972 (57) 2767; 1993 Act No. 35, Section 1.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-185. Adolescent cervical cancer vaccinations.

(A)(1) Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, the Department of Health and Environmental Control may offer the cervical cancer vaccination series for adolescent students. Adolescent students include children enrolling in the seventh grade in any school, public, private, or home schooling program in this State.
(2) No student is required to have the cervical cancer vaccination series before enrolling in or attending school. Consent of a parent or guardian is required for a student to receive the cervical cancer vaccination from the department, except as provided under Section 63-5-340.
(B)(1) The department may develop and provide, to each school and home schooling program whose grade levels include grade six, informational brochures concerning adolescent vaccinations, including the cervical cancer vaccination series. The brochure specifically must state the benefits and side effects of the cervical cancer vaccination series and that the vaccination series is optional. The brochure must encourage the parent or guardian of a student to take the child to the child's own health care provider to be vaccinated. At the beginning of the school year, each school and home schooling program may provide this informational brochure to the parents or guardians of all students in the sixth grade.
(2) The department shall disclose the benefits, adverse risks, and side effects of the adolescent vaccination series offered, which must take into account medical findings by the health care profession in this State, another state, or any other country. The department shall encourage the parent or guardian of a student to take the child to the child's own health care provider for a full discussion of the benefits and side effects of receiving any adolescent vaccination series.
(C) For the purposes of this section "cervical cancer vaccination series" means the human papillomavirus vaccination series.
(D) Implementation of this section is contingent upon the appropriation of state and federal funding to the department to fully cover the costs of providing this vaccination series to eligible students as well as the availability of funds to produce the informational brochure provided for in subsection (B)(1).
(E) The department may not contract with a health care provider to offer the vaccination series if the health care provider performs abortions.
HISTORY: 2016 Act No. 151 (H.3204), Section 2, eff April 21, 2016.
Editor's Note
2016 Act No. 151, Section 1, provides as follows:
"SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the 'Cervical Cancer Prevention Act'."
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-190. Penalty for violation of Section 44-29-180.

Any person who violates the provisions of Section 44-29-180 is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, may be fined not more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-696; 1952 Code Section 32-696; 1942 Code Section 5036; 1932 Code Section 5047; Civ. C. '22 Section 2355; Cr. C. '22 Section 445; 1920 (31) 941; 1972 (57) 2767; 1988 Act No. 490, Section 12.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-195. Head lice; prerequisites to return of student to school; voucher for treatment products.

(A) A student sent home from school for having pediculosis (head lice) only may return to school upon presentation of evidence of treatment and upon a physical screening conducted by the school nurse or other person designated by the principal indicating an absence of pediculosis.
(B) The department shall make available to eligible families, through the county health departments, products or vouchers for products for the treatment of pediculosis.
For purposes of this subsection, a family is eligible if a child in the family is a student in the public school system and the child receives Medicaid or free or reduced school meals.
HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 302, Section 1.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-200. Attendance of teachers or pupils with contagious or infectious diseases may be prohibited.

Any board of education, school trustees, or other body having control of a school, on account of the prevalence of any contagious or infectious diseases or to prevent the spread of disease, may prohibit or limit the attendance of any employee or student at any school or school-related activities under its control. The decision to prohibit or limit attendance must be based on sound medical evidence and must comply with the official procedures adopted by the board for this purpose. Before lifting a prohibition or restriction on attendance, the board may require a satisfactory certificate from one or more licensed physicians that attendance is no longer a risk to others attending school.
Any board acting in good faith and in compliance with the provisions of this section is not liable for damages which may result from its decision. Nothing in this section relieves a board from its responsibilities to provide a student with educational programs and services appropriate to his needs as required by Section 59-20-30.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-695; 1952 Code Section 32-695; 1942 Code Section 5032; 1932 Code Section 5043; Civ. C. '22 Section 2351; Civ. C. '12 Section 1607; Civ. C. '02 Section 1110; R. S. 965; 1883 (18) 292; 1972 (57) 2806; 1988 Act No. 490, Section 13.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-210. Physicians, licensed nurses, and certain authorized public health employees participating in mass immunization projects exempt from liability; exceptions.

(A) If the Board of the Department of Health and Environmental Control or the Director of the Department of Health and Environmental Control approves in writing a mass immunization project to be administered in any part of this State in cooperation with an official or volunteer medical or health agency, any authorized employee of the agency, any physician who does not receive compensation for his services in the project, and any licensed nurse who participates in the project, except as provided in subsection (B), is not liable to any person for illness, reaction, or adverse effect arising from or out of the use of any drug or vaccine administered in the project by the employee, physician, or nurse. Neither the board nor the director may approve the project unless either finds that the project conforms to good medical and public health practice.
For purposes of this section, a person is considered to be an authorized employee of an official or volunteer medical or health agency if he has received the necessary training for and approval of the department for participation in the project.
(B) Nothing in this section exempts any physician, licensed nurse, or authorized public health employee participating in any mass immunization project from liability for gross negligence, and the provisions of this section do not exempt any drug manufacturer from any liability for any drug or vaccine used in the project.
HISTORY: 1976 Act No. 703, Sections 1, 2; 1988 Act No. 490, Section 14; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1099; 2010 Act No. 210, Section 1, eff upon approval (became law without the Governor's signature on June 1, 2010).
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-240. Protection of health care professionals rendering care; knowledge and disclosure of HIV or HBV status.

A person, upon whom an invasive, exposure-prone procedure, as defined by the Department of Health and Environmental Control, is scheduled to be performed, is encouraged to know his HIV antibody, HBsAG, and HBeAg status and disclose the status to the health care professionals rendering care so that precautionary measures may be taken. A person, upon whom an invasive, exposure-prone procedure is scheduled to be performed, who does not know his status, is encouraged to have his blood tested for the presence of HIV or HBV so as to protect the health care professionals rendering care.
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 321, Section 2.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 29 - Contagious And Infectious Diseases › Section 44-29-250. Confidentiality of anonymous HIV test results; reporting requirements.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or a regulation promulgated under this chapter, a person who collects and anonymously submits a sample of the person's own body fluid or tissue for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection testing is not required to report a positive test result, and the test results are confidential. However, the person or laboratory performing the test on an anonymous sample shall report a positive HIV infection test result to the Department of Health and Environmental Control, as well as certification to the Department of Health and Environmental Control that counseling options, including community-based resources, and referrals to appropriate medical providers have been made or offered to the positive subject, but the report must not contain any information identifying the subject of the report or any information that may lead to the identification of the subject of the report.
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 321, Section 1.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 30 - Health Care Professional Compliance Act › Section 44-30-20. Definitions.

As used in this article:
(1) "CDC" means the Centers for Disease Control of the Public Health Service.
(2) "CDC recommendations" means the July 12, 1991, CDC document (MMWR, Volume 40, No. RR-8) entitled "Recommendations for Preventing Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis B Virus to Patients During Exposure-Prone Invasive Procedures" or equivalent guidelines developed by the department and approved by the CDC and any appropriate supplements or revisions thereto.
(3) "Department" means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
(4) "Educational institutions" means the health professional schools of dentistry, medicine, and nursing and any other educational program or institution providing training for health care professionals.
(5) "Expert review panel" means a panel of experts in composition and function as defined in the CDC recommendations and appointed or approved by the department.
(6) "Health care professional" means a physician, physician's assistant, dentist, dental hygienist, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, or podiatrist practicing or licensed to practice in South Carolina.
(7) "Licensing board" means these health professional licensing boards which are state agencies and which license and regulate specific health care professions: the State Board of Medical Examiners, the State Board of Nursing for South Carolina, the South Carolina State Board of Dentistry, and the State Board of Podiatry Examiners.
(8) "Public law" means Public Law 102-141, Section 633, enacted October 28, 1991, applicable to health care professionals.
(9) "State public health official" means the director of the department or the director's designee.
HISTORY: 1992 Act No. 403, Section 8; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1100.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 30 - Health Care Professional Compliance Act › Section 44-30-30. Department to oversee implementation of PL 102-141, Section 633, and CDC recommendations; assistance to licensing boards to ensure compliance; expert review panel.

(A) The department is authorized to ensure and oversee the implementation of Public Law 102-141, Section 633, and applicable CDC recommendations and any appropriate supplements and revisions to the CDC recommendations which apply to health care professionals.
(B) The department shall provide consultation and assistance to licensing boards, as appropriate, to ensure compliance with CDC recommendations.
(C) The department shall appoint at least one or approve an existing expert review panel, consistent with the CDC recommendations in composition and function, whose recommendations must be considered requirements and must be binding upon the affected health care professionals.
HISTORY: 1992 Act No. 403, Section 8.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 30 - Health Care Professional Compliance Act › Section 44-30-40. Adoption of CDC recommendations by licensing boards; notice to health care professionals; disciplinary action regarding violations by health care professionals.

(A) By October 1, 1992, each licensing board shall adopt the CDC recommendations and shall communicate with its respective health care professionals by written notice of their adoption. This written notice must include information that noncompliance may subject the licensee to disciplinary proceedings before the licensing board. The notice must provide information regarding education and training in the areas of infection control, universal precautions, and disinfection and sterilization techniques.
(B) Each licensing board shall institute disciplinary or other action for violations by its respective health care professionals of the CDC recommendations and any other requirements adopted pursuant to this article.
HISTORY: 1992 Act No. 403, Section 8.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 30 - Health Care Professional Compliance Act › Section 44-30-50. Immunity from liability for members of review panels and licensing boards and consultants and persons providing information.

No member of an expert review panel or licensing board and no person or organization providing consultation to an expert review panel or licensing board may be subject to civil or criminal liability for actions or omissions made during investigations or hearings or made in rulings or decisions when acting within the scope of official duties and while carrying out the responsibilities of this article. No other person providing written or oral information to an expert review panel or a licensing board may be subject to civil or criminal liability for actions taken or statements made in good faith during an investigation or hearing.
HISTORY: 1992 Act No. 403, Section 8.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 30 - Health Care Professional Compliance Act › Section 44-30-60. Confidentiality of expert review panel proceedings, records and information; notification of noncompliance; reports of accidents and incidents.

(A) An expert review panel is considered a professional committee pursuant to Chapter 71, Title 40, "Liability of Members of Professional Committees". Proceedings, records, and information acquired or produced by the panel are confidential pursuant to Section 40-71-20, except that the expert review panel may notify a person or entity charged with supervision or monitoring of the requirements set forth in Section 44-30-30(3) and must notify the appropriate licensing board and the department of any occurrence of noncompliance by the health care professional with the requirements of the expert review panel.
(B) Nothing in this section affects the duty of a facility or activity licensed by the department to report accidents or incidents pursuant to the department's regulations. Provided, however, anything reported pursuant to the department's regulations shall not be considered to waive any privilege or confidentiality provided in subsection (A).
HISTORY: 1992 Act No. 403, Section 8; 2006 Act No. 372, Section 2, eff June 9, 2006.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 30 - Health Care Professional Compliance Act › Section 44-30-70. Disciplinary action for violation of expert review panel recommendations or related regulations.

A health care professional who violates a recommendation of the expert review panel as set forth in Section 44-30-40 and related regulations is subject to disciplinary action by the appropriate licensing board. Nothing in this article prohibits the department from taking any action it considers necessary to protect the public health pursuant to Section 44-1-140.
HISTORY: 1992 Act No. 403, Section 8.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 30 - Health Care Professional Compliance Act › Section 44-30-80. Educational institutions providing training in preparation for licensure to certify they provide appropriate curricula.

An educational institution providing basic training programs for health care professionals in preparation for licensure in the State shall certify annually to the department that it provides curricula for infection control, universal precautions, and sterilization and disinfection techniques appropriate for health care professionals participating in its education programs.
HISTORY: 1992 Act No. 403, Section 8.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 30 - Health Care Professional Compliance Act › Section 44-30-90. Regulations; order authentication and contents.

The department and each licensing board shall promulgate regulations necessary to accomplish the purposes set forth in this article and to comply with public law no later than October 1, 1992. All orders for medication dispensed or treatment provided in a hospital shall be authenticated according to hospital policy. The orders shall be taken by personnel qualified by hospital medical staff rules and shall include the date, time, and name of persons who gave the order, and the signature of the person taking the order. The Department of Health and Environmental Control shall promulgate regulations consistent with this provision.
HISTORY: 1992 Act No. 403, Section 8; 1999 Act No. 85, Section 2.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 30 - Health Care Professional Compliance Act › Section 44-30-310. Free health care services; immunity from liability.

If a health care provider, licensed pursuant to the laws of this State, informs his or her patient in writing, which may include use of an electronic medical record device, before treatment that the treatment to be rendered by the health care provider will be provided free of charge, the health care provider is not liable for any civil damages for any personal injury as a result of any act or omission by the health care provider rendering treatment free of charge or failure to act to provide or arrange for further treatment, except acts or omission amounting to gross negligence or wilful or wanton misconduct. For purposes of this section, a health care provider includes a dentist maintaining a restricted volunteer license pursuant to Section 40-15-177, a practitioner maintaining a special volunteer license pursuant to Section 40-47-34, and a chiropractor maintaining a special volunteer license pursuant to Section 40-9-85.
HISTORY: 2016 Act No. 189 (H.4999), Section 1, eff May 25, 2016.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-10. Reports of physicians and administrative officers of hospitals and similar institutions.

Every attending physician and chief administrative officer having charge of any hospital, clinic, dispensary or other similar private or public institution in the State shall make a report in writing, on a form to be furnished by the Department of Health and Environmental Control, on every person known by the physician to have tuberculosis or on every patient in the care of such administrator. Such report shall be filed within twenty-four hours after the patient is known by the physician to have tuberculosis or after such patient comes into the care of the administrator.
The report shall contain the name, age, sex, race, occupation, place where last employed if known, and the address or previous address in the case of a patient reported on, and the reporting physician or officer shall also give evidence upon which the diagnosis of tuberculosis has been made, the part of the body affected, and the stage of the disease. All cases in which sputum, urine, feces, pus, or any other bodily discharge, secretion, or excretion contains the tubercle bacillus, shall be regarded as active infectious cases of tuberculosis.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-640; 1970 (56) 2044.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-20. Reports of bacteriological and pathological laboratories.

(1) All bacteriological and pathological laboratories rendering diagnostic service shall report to the Department of Health and Environmental Control, within twenty-four hours after diagnosis, the full name and other available data relating to the person whose sputa, gastric contents, or other specimens submitted for examination reveal the presence of tubercle bacilli. Such report shall include the name and address of the physician or of any other person or agency referring such positive specimen for clinical diagnosis.
(2) All reports and records of clinical or laboratory examination, for the presence of tuberculosis, shall be confidential and recorded in a register maintained by the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-641; 1970 (56) 2044.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-30. Personnel of Department of Health and Environmental Control are authorized to inspect records and provide consultation services.

Authorized personnel of the Department of Health and Environmental Control may inspect all medical records of all public and private institutions and clinics where tuberculosis patients are treated, and shall provide consultation services to officers of State educational, correctional, and medical institutions regarding the control of tuberculosis and the care of patients or inmates having tuberculosis.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-642; 1970 (56) 2044.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-100. Legislative findings; purpose of article.

(A) The General Assembly finds that:
(1) Pulmonary tuberculosis is a life-threatening airborne disease. Tuberculosis has reemerged as an epidemic disease nationally. The number and types of cases in South Carolina each year, including drug-resistant tuberculosis, demonstrate that timely, effective public health intervention is necessary to prevent an epidemic and to protect the residents of this State.
(2) In order to limit the spread of tuberculosis, it is essential that persons with the disease are diagnosed and treated before they infect others. Diagnosis requires a variety of methodologies, including skin tests, x-rays, blood tests, and laboratory analysis of sputum samples.
(3) A person with tuberculosis who does not voluntarily submit to appropriate testing, treatment, or infection control methods poses an unreasonable risk of spreading the disease to those who come into contact with the person.
(4) Although the recommended course of treatment for tuberculosis varies somewhat from one individual to another, at a minimum, effective treatment requires a long-term regimen of multiple drug therapy. The development of the appropriate course of treatment for any one individual may require trying different combinations of drugs and repeated drug susceptibility testing. The course of treatment may require as long as several years to complete.
(5) A noninfectious person who begins a course of treatment for tuberculosis and fails to follow the recommended course through to completion is highly likely to become infectious. The person can infect others and possibly develop drug-resistant tuberculosis, which is more difficult to treat, and more likely to result in death. A person who is infectious with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis poses a significant risk of transmitting drug-resistant tuberculosis to other persons, unless appropriate treatment and infection control methods are followed. It is therefore critical that individuals with tuberculosis, whether infectious or not, complete a course of treatment to avoid relapse, infectiousness, and drug resistance.
(B) The purposes of this article are to:
(1) assure the timely diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of tuberculosis;
(2) provide appropriate individualized preventive and curative treatment to the people of South Carolina in the least restrictive setting; and
(3) protect the public from the spread of infectious tuberculosis.
HISTORY: 2011 Act No. 53, Section 1, eff June 14, 2011.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-105. Emergency order; contents; enforcement; hearings on release.

(A) If the Department of Health and Environmental Control determines that the public health or the health of any individual is endangered by a case of tuberculosis, or a suspected case of tuberculosis, the commissioner, or his or her designee, may issue an emergency order he or she considers necessary to protect the public health or the health of any person, and law enforcement shall aid and assist the department in accordance with Section 44-1-100.
(B) An emergency order issued pursuant to this section may include, but is not limited to:
(1) authorizing the emergency removal to and detention in a hospital or other treatment facility for examination of a person who is unable or unwilling to voluntarily submit to an examination by a physician or by the department for the purpose of determining whether the person is infected with active tuberculosis and presents a danger to himself or others;
(2) requiring compliance with an appropriate, prescribed course of medication for tuberculosis and contagion precautions;
(3) requiring compliance with a course of directly observed therapy in which the prescribed antituberculosis medication is administered under direct observation as specified by the department;
(4) authorizing the emergency removal to and isolation in a hospital or other treatment facility of a person who fails to comply with an emergency order issued by the department, fails to comply with a medically ordered treatment regimen, and presents a substantial risk and likelihood of exposure of active tuberculosis to other persons;
(5) requiring the emergency detention and isolation by a hospital of a hospital patient with active tuberculosis disease who is threatening or attempting to leave the hospital against medical advice.
(C) An emergency order issued pursuant to this section must include:
(1) an individualized assessment of the person's circumstances or behavior, or both, constituting the basis for the issuance of the order;
(2) the purposes of the isolation or detention;
(3) notice that the respondent has the right to request release from isolation and detention by contacting a person designated in the order; and
(4) in the absence of a court order, that the detention must not continue for more than thirty days.
(D) The probate court shall enforce the provisions of an emergency order issued pursuant to this section. If a person being isolated or detained pursuant to an emergency order requests release from isolation or detention, the department, within three working days of the request for release, shall file a petition in the probate court of the county in which the person is being held seeking continued isolation or detention. The probate court must schedule a hearing to review the request for continued isolation or detention within ten days of the filing of the petition.
HISTORY: 2011 Act No. 53, Section 1, eff June 14, 2011.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-110. Emergency order for commitment of person with active tuberculosis; petition; waiver of notice.

(A) When it is brought to the attention of a Department of Health and Environmental Control health officer that a person with active tuberculosis is unable or unwilling to conduct himself so as not to expose others to danger, the department shall issue an emergency order pursuant to Section 44-31-105 or file a petition in the probate court of the county in which the person resides or is situated seeking commitment of the person to a facility for isolation and treatment. In case of the absence of the health officer or the department's failure to act, any other interested person may petition the probate court for commitment of the person for isolation and treatment. A petition seeking commitment must be based on proper records and affidavits.
(B) The probate court may waive the requirement of notice to the person who is the subject of the emergency order or petition seeking commitment if the health officer demonstrates that the person is:
(1) hiding from the health department staff;
(2) evading attempts by health department staff or law enforcement to serve notice of the proceedings; or
(3) refusing to accept service of pleadings or motions.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-631; 1952 Code Section 32-631; 1948 (45) 1934; 2011 Act No. 53, Section 1, eff June 14, 2011.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-120. Commitment of tuberculosis patient; duration.

If the judge of probate, after notice and hearing, is satisfied that the petition is well founded, the judge may commit the person to a facility designated by the department, and the commitment continues until the department notifies the probate judge that the person is no longer a threat to the public's health.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-632; 1952 Code Section 32-632; 1948 (45) 1934; 1953 (48) 149; 1973 (58) 240; 2011 Act No. 53, Section 1, eff June 14, 2011.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-130. Appeal of commitment; no stay pending appeal available.

A person committed to a facility under the terms of this article has the right to appeal to a court having jurisdiction for review of the evidence under which the person was committed. The order of commitment must not be stayed pending appeal.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-633; 1952 Code Section 32-633; 1948 (45) 1934; 2011 Act No. 53, Section 1, eff June 14, 2011.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-140. Isolation or forcible detention.

If a person committed to a facility pursuant to this article leaves without permission or, in the opinion of the department, endangers the public, staff, or other patients, the department is empowered to isolate and forceably detain the person if necessary until such time as the person no longer poses a risk to others.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-634; 1952 Code Section 32-634; 1948 (45) 1934; 1953 (48) 149; 1972 (57) 2605; 2011 Act No. 53, Section 1, eff June 14, 2011.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-150. Detention in local detention facility limited.

A person committed under the provisions of this article who is detained solely for treatment or isolation in a facility designated by the department may not be committed to a local detention facility.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-637; 1952 Code Section 32-637; 1948 (45) 1934; 1953 (48) 149; 1972 (57) 2289; 2011 Act No. 53, Section 1, eff June 14, 2011.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-160. Report of leave without permission; judge to order sheriff to return patient to facility or secure prison facility.

If a person lawfully detained or committed pursuant to this article to a facility leaves the facility without permission of the attending physician, the department shall report this information to the judge of probate of the county from which the patient was committed, and the judge of probate shall call upon the sheriff of the county to return the patient to the facility or to a secure prison facility if necessary.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-635; 1952 Code Section 32-635; 1948 (45) 1934; 1953 (48) 149; 1972 (57) 2604; 2011 Act No. 53, Section 1, eff June 14, 2011.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-170. Requirement of certification of danger by two physicians for compulsory treatment; examination not compulsory treatment.

A person must not be required to take compulsory treatment under the provisions of this article until two physicians licensed to practice in this State certify that the person sought to be confined for treatment has tuberculosis in a contagious state and constitutes a danger to the health of others unless the person is hospitalized and given treatment. An examination conducted pursuant to Section 44-31-105 of a person with suspected tuberculosis is not compulsory treatment.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-636; 1952 Code Section 32-636; 1948 (45) 1934; 1973 (58) 259; 2011 Act No. 53, Section 1, eff June 14, 2011.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-190. Construction and application of article.

No provision of this article may be construed as interfering with the ordinary admission of tuberculosis patients to a facility through channels that have customarily been followed in the past, and this article applies only to cases that have proved to be beyond ordinary, reasonable methods of control. This article does not apply to persons suffering from mental illness; these persons must be treated by the Department of Mental Health.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-638; 1952 Code Section 32-638; 1948 (45) 1934; 1953 (48) 149; 1972 (57) 2605; 2011 Act No. 53, Section 1, eff June 14, 2011.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-310. County authorities shall provide separate cells, rooms, or places for tuberculous prisoners.

The county supervisors and governing bodies of the respective counties shall provide in the jails or places of confinement where prisoners are committed for keeping or sentenced to a term of imprisonment separate cells, rooms or places in which shall be confined all prisoners who may be committed for keeping or sentenced to a term of imprisonment who are affected with tuberculosis.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-651; 1952 Code Section 32-651; 1942 Code Section 5045; 1932 Code Section 1499; Cr. C. '22 Section 444; 1915 (29) 196.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-320. Examination of prisoners or inmates by physician.

The county supervisor or sheriff of any county, when a prisoner or inmate is placed in his custody who the official has reason to suspect is suffering with tuberculosis, shall have such prisoner or inmate examined by a physician and if such prisoner or inmate shall be pronounced by the examining physician as a tuberculous person, then the prisoner or inmate shall be placed in the separate cell, room or place provided for by Section 44-31-310.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-652; 1952 Code Section 32-652; 1942 Code Section 5045; 1932 Code Section 1499; Cr. C. '22 Section 444; 1915 (29) 196.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-330. Examination within five days after commitment.

The jailer, keeper or warden of every place of confinement designated in this article shall have all prisoners and inmates who are suspected to be suffering with tuberculosis examined within five days after they have been committed.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-653; 1952 Code Section 32-653; 1942 Code Section 5045; 1932 Code Section 1499; Cr. C. '22 Section 444; 1915 (29) 196.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-340. Penal and charitable institutions shall provide separate places for tuberculous prisoners and inmates.

Superintendents and boards of directors of all State penal and charitable institutions shall provide separate places of confinement for all prisoners and inmates who have been pronounced by the physician in charge as tuberculous persons.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-654; 1952 Code Section 32-654; 1942 Code Section 5045; 1932 Code Section 1499; Cr. C. '22 Section 444; 1915 (29) 196.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-350. Association of prisoners on public works not prohibited.

Nothing in this article shall be so construed as to interfere with or prevent the county authorities from working or housing together all prisoners on public works as provided by law.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-656; 1952 Code Section 32-656; 1942 Code Section 5045; 1932 Code Section 1499; Cr. C. '22 Section 444; 1915 (29) 196.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-360. Penalty.

A person who violates the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than three years.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-657; 1952 Code Section 32-657; 1942 Code Section 5045; 1932 Code Section 1499; Cr. C. '22 Section 444; 1915 (29) 196; 1993 Act No. 184, Section 235.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 44 - Health › Chapter 31 - Tuberculosis › Section 44-31-510. State Park Health Center transferred to Department of Health and Environmental Control; title to real property vested in State.

All powers, duties, personnel, funds and personal property of the State Park Health Center are hereby transferred to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. The title to all real property is hereby vested in the State of South Carolina, to be administered by the State Department of Administration.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-885.1; 1972 (57) 2807.