reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 2R. Unborn Child Protection Act › §16-2R-4. Not Considered an Abortion

(a) Abortion does not include:
(1) A miscarriage;
(2) An intrauterine fetal demise or stillbirth;
(3) The use of existing established cell lines derived from aborted human embryos or fetuses;
(4) Medical treatment provided to a patient by a licensed medical professional that results in the accidental or unintentional injury or death of an embryo or a fetus;
(5) In vitro fertilization;
(6) Human fetal tissue research, when performed in accordance with Sections 498A and 498B of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 289g-1 and 289g-2) and 45 C.F.R. 46.204 and 46.206; or
(7) The prescription, sale, transfer, or use of contraceptive devices, instruments, medicines, or drugs.
(b) This article does not prevent the prescription, sale, or transfer of intrauterine contraceptive devices, other contraceptive devices, or other generally medically accepted contraceptive devices, instruments, medicines, or drugs for a patient who is not known to be pregnant and for whom the contraceptive devices, instruments, medicines, or drugs are prescribed, sold, or transferred solely for contraceptive purposes and not for the purpose of inducing or causing the termination of a known pregnancy.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 2R. Unborn Child Protection Act › §16-2R-7. Licensure Action

A licensed medical professional who knowingly and willfully performs, induces, or attempts to perform or induce an abortion, with the intent to violate the provisions of 16-2R-3 of this code, is subject to disciplinary action by his or her applicable licensing board. If the licensing board finds that the licensed medical professional has knowingly and willfully performed, induced, or attempted to perform or induce an abortion, with the intent to violate the provisions of 16-2R-3 of this code, the licensing board shall revoke medical professionals license.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 2R. Unborn Child Protection Act › §16-2R-8. Protection of Aborted Fetuses Born Alive

(a) Whenever a licensed medical professional performs or induces, or attempts to perform or induce an abortion and the child is born alive, the licensed medical professional shall:
(1) Exercise the same degree of reasonable medical judgment to preserve the life and health of the child in the same manner as the licensed medical professional would render to any child alive at birth of the same gestational age;
(2) Ensure that the child is immediately transported and admitted to an appropriate medical facility.
(b) Any licensed medical professional who knowingly and willfully violates subsection (a) of this section shall be considered to have breached the standard of care owed to patients and is subject to discipline from the appropriate licensure board for such conduct, including but not limited to loss of professional license to practice.
(c) Any person, not subject to subsection (a) of this section, who knowingly and willfully violates subsection (a) of this section is guilty of the unauthorized practice of medicine in violation of 30-3-13 of this code and, upon conviction thereof, is subject to the penalties contained in that section:
Provided
, That the provisions of this subsection (c) enacted during the third extraordinary session of the Legislature, 2022, shall be effective 90 days from passage.
(d) In addition to the penalties referenced in this section, a patient may seek any remedy otherwise available to the patient by applicable law.
(e) This section shall not be construed to subject any patient upon whom an abortion is performed or induced or attempted to be performed or induced to a criminal penalty for any violation of this section as a principal, accessory or accomplice, conspirator, or aider and abettor.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 2R. Unborn Child Protection Act › §16-2R-9. Severability

Severability as provided in 2-2-10(b)(7) of this code is applicable to this article:
Provided
, That if this entire article is judicially determined to be unconstitutional, then the provisions of 16-2F-1
et seq
., 16-2I-1
et seq
., 16-2M-1
et seq
., 16-2O-1, 16-2P-1, 16-2Q-1, and 33-42-8 of this code shall become immediately effective:
Provided, however
, That if a provision or provisions of 16-2R-1
et seq
. of this code are judicially determined to be unconstitutional, then the provisions of 16-2F-9, 16-2I-9, 16-2M-7, 16-2O-1(e), 16-2P-1(d), 16-2Q-1(m), and 33-42-8(d) of this code are not effective.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-1. State Director of Health Authority to Quarantine and to Enforce Regulations; State Board of Health Authority to Issue Regulations to Control Infectious or Contagious Diseases

The state director of health is empowered to establish and strictly maintain quarantine at such places as he may deem proper and forbid and prevent the assembling of the people in any place, when the state director of health or any county or municipal health officer deems that the public health and safety so demand, and the state board of health may adopt rules and regulations to obstruct and prevent the introduction or spread of smallpox or other communicable or infectious diseases into or within the State, and the state director of health shall have the power to enforce these regulations by detention and arrest, if necessary. The state director of health shall have power to enter into any town, city, factory, railroad train, steamboat or other place whatsoever, and enter upon and inspect private property for the purpose of investigating the sanitary and hygienic conditions and the presence of cases of infectious diseases, and may, at his discretion, take charge of any epidemic or endemic conditions, and enforce such regulations as the state board of health may prescribe. All expenses incurred in controlling any endemic or epidemic conditions shall be paid by the county or municipality in which such epidemic occurs.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-2. Powers of County and Municipal Boards of Health to Establish Quarantine; Penalty for Violation

The county board of health of any county may declare quarantine therein, or in any particular district or place therein, whenever in their judgment it is necessary to prevent the spread of any communicable or infectious disease prevalent therein, or to prevent the introduction of any communicable or infectious disease prevailing in any other state, county or place, and of any and all persons and things likely to spread such infection. As soon as such quarantine is established such board shall, in writing, inform the director of health thereof, the duty of whom it shall be to ascertain, as soon as practicable, the necessity therefor, if any exists, and if the state director of health finds that no such necessity exists, the same shall, by the said director, be declared raised. The said county board of health shall have power and authority to enforce such quarantine until the same is raised as aforesaid, or by themselves, and may confine any such infected person, or any person liable to spread such infection, to the house or premises in which he resides, or if he has no residence in the county, at a place to be provided by them for the purpose; and if it shall become necessary to do so, they shall summon sufficient guard for the enforcement of their orders in the premises. Every person who shall fail or refuse to comply with any order made by such board under this section, and every person summoned as such guard who shall, without a lawful excuse, fail or refuse to obey the orders and directions of such board in enforcing said quarantine, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than $200. In cases of emergency or actual necessity, and when the county commission or corporate authorities are from any cause unable to meet or to provide for the emergency or the necessity of the case, all actual expenditures necessary for local and county quarantine, as provided for in this section, shall be certified by the county board of health to the county commission, and the whole, or as much thereof as the said commission may deem right and proper, shall be paid out of the county treasury. The board of health of any city, town or village shall have, within the municipality, the same powers and perform the same duties herein conferred upon and required of the county board of health in their county. So far as applicable the provisions of this section shall apply to any quarantine established and maintained by the state director of health pursuant to section one of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-3. Communicable Diseases on Vessels or Trains; Offenses; Penalty

The state department of health, its agents and employees, and the local boards of health, in the absence of the state department, its agents and employees, when they have reason to believe that any steamboat or other watercraft navigating the Ohio river or its tributaries in this state, or any other of the waters of the state, or bordering thereon, is infected with any communicable disease, may prevent the landing of such boat or craft at any point in this state. They may also, if they have reason to believe that any railroad train, coach or other vehicle passing on or along any railroad in this state, contains any person having a communicable disease or any thing infected with contagious matter, detain such train, coach or vehicle at any station or point on such railroad where it can be done with safety, for a time sufficient to examine the same, and if found to be so infected, for a time sufficient to disinfect the same; and if the conductor or person in charge of such train, coach or vehicle, shall willfully fail or refuse to stop the said train, coach or vehicle for the time aforesaid, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, punished as prescribed in section two of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-4a. Influenza Immunizations

(a) A hospital licensed pursuant to the provisions of article five-b of this chapter shall offer to an inpatient who is sixty-five years of age or older an influenza immunization prior to discharge from October 1 of every year and continuing through March 1 of the following year.
(b) The immunizations may not be offered in cases where the immunization is contraindicated.
(c) The requirements of this section are subject to the availability for sufficient influenza immunizations.
(d) Nothing in this section may be construed to require an influenza immunization as a condition of receiving any type of service or as a condition of discharge.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-4c. Prohibiting Proof of Covid-19 Vaccination

(a) As used in this section:
(1) "COVID-19" has the same definition as provided in 55-19-3 of this code;
(2) "Hospital" has the same definition as provided in 16-5B-1 of this code;
(3) "Immunization" has the same definition as provided in 55-19-3 of this code;
(4) "Proof of vaccination" means physical documentation or digital storage of protected health information related to an individuals immunization or vaccination against COVID-19; and
(5) "State institution of higher education" has the same meaning as provided in 18B-1-2 of this code.
(b) A state or local governmental official, entity, department, or agency may not require proof of vaccination as a condition of entering the premises of a state or local government entity, or utilizing services provided by a state or local government entity:
Provided
, That if any federal law or regulation requires proof of vaccination as a condition of entering the premises, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply:
Provided, however
, That this prohibition does not apply to any local government-owned facility that is leased to a private entity where the local governmental unit primarily serves as a property owner receiving rental payments.
(c) A hospital may not require proof of vaccination as a condition of entering the premises:
Provided
, That if any federal law or regulation requires proof of vaccination as a condition of entering the premises, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply.
(d) A state institution of higher education may not require proof of vaccination as a condition of enrollment or for entering the premises:
Provided
, That if any federal law or regulation requires proof of vaccination as a condition of entering the premises, or if the academic requirements of a particular program cannot be met without vaccination and proof thereof, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-6. Nuisances Affecting Public Health

The state director of health or any county or municipal health officer shall inquire into and investigate all nuisances affecting the public health within his jurisdiction; and the said director or any such officer or the county commission of any county or any municipality is authorized and empowered to apply to the circuit court of the county in which any such nuisance exists, or to the judge thereof in vacation, for an injunction forthwith to restrain, prevent or abate such nuisance.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-7. Inflammation of the Eyes of the Newborn

Any inflammation, swelling, or unusual redness in either one or both eyes of any infant, either apart from, or together with any unnatural discharge from the eye or eyes of such infant, independent of the nature of the infection, if any, occurring at any time within two weeks after the birth of such infant, shall be known as "inflammation of the eyes of the newborn" (ophthalmia neonatorum).
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-8. Inflammation of the Eyes of the Newborn -- Duty of Those Assisting at Childbirth to Report Cases; Treatment

It shall be the duty of any physician, surgeon, obstetrician, midwife, nurse, maternity home or hospital of any nature, parent, relative and persons attendant on or assisting in any way whatsoever any infant, or the mother of any infant, at childbirth, or at any time within two weeks after childbirth, knowing that the condition described in the preceding section exists, immediately to report such fact in writing to the local health officer of the county or municipality within which the infant or the mother of any infant may reside. In the event of there being no health officer in such county or municipality, the nurse or midwife in attendance shall immediately report the condition to some qualified practitioner of medicine and thereupon withdraw from the case except as she may act under the physician's instructions. On receipt of such report, the health officer, or the physician notified by a midwife where no health officer exists, shall immediately give to the parents or persons having charge of such infant a warning of the dangers to the eye, or eyes, of said infant, and shall for indigent cases provide the necessary treatment at the expense of said county or municipality.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-9. Inflammation of the Eyes of the Newborn -- Duties of Local Health Officer

It shall be the duty of the local health officer to investigate, or have investigated, every such case reported to him in pursuance of law, and any other cases that may come to his attention; to report all cases of inflammation of the eyes of the newborn and the result of all such investigations as the West Virginia board of health shall direct; and to conform to such other rules and regulations as the West Virginia board of health shall promulgate for his further guidance.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-10. Inflammation of Eyes of Newborn -- Use of an Appropriate Medication as Prophylactic

It shall be unlawful for any physician, nurse-midwife or midwife, practicing midwifery, or other health care professional to neglect or otherwise fail to instill or have instilled, immediately upon its birth, in the eyes of the newborn babe, the contents of a single-use tube of an ophthalmic ointment containing one percent tetracycline or one half of one percent erythromycin or the equivalent dosage of such medications or other appropriate medication approved by the director for prevention of inflammation of the eyes of the newborn. Every physician, nurse-midwife or midwife or other health care professional shall, in making a report of a birth, state the name of the appropriate medication which was instilled into the eyes of said infant. The director shall establish a list of appropriate medications for prevention of inflammation of the eyes of the newborn. The list shall be kept current and distributed to appropriate health care facilities and such other sources as the director may determine to be necessary.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-11. Same -- Duty of Clerk of County Commission

It shall be the duty of the clerk of the county commission of each county, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, to certify to the prosecuting attorney of his county all reports of births filed during the preceding calendar month which fail to show that an appropriate medication for prevention of inflammation of the eyes of the newborn hereinbefore provided for was instilled.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-12. Same -- Duties of the State Director of Health; Duties of Board of Health

It shall be the duty of the state director of health:
(a) To enforce the provisions of sections seven through thirteen, inclusive, of this article;
(b) To provide for the gratuitous distribution of one percent solution of silver nitrate outfits, together with proper directions for the use and administration thereof, to all physicians and midwives who may be engaged in the practice of obstetrics, or assisting at childbirth;
(c) To publish and promulgate such further advice and information concerning the dangers of inflammation of the eyes of the newborn as is necessary for prompt and effective treatment;
(d) To furnish copies of sections seven through thirteen, inclusive, of this article to all physicians and midwives who may be engaged in the practice of obstetrics, or assisting at childbirth;
(e) To keep a proper record of any and all cases of inflammation of the eyes of the newborn of which reports are filed with the state director of health pursuant to law, or which may come to his attention in any way, and to constitute such records a part of the annual report to the Governor; and
(f) To report any and all violations of the public health laws or of any rules or regulations lawfully adopted pursuant thereto that may come to his attention, to the prosecuting attorney of the county wherein said violations may have occurred, and to assist said official in any way possible in the prosecution of such cases.
It shall be the duty of the state board of health Should this be Secretary of the Department of Health and Should this be Secretary of the Department of Health and Should this be Secretary of the Department of Health and to promulgate such rules and regulations as shall be necessary for the purpose of enforcing said provisions, and as the state director of health may deem necessary for the further and proper guidance of local health officers.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3. Prevention and Control of Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases › §16-3-13. Same -- Offenses; Penalties

Whoever, being a physician, surgeon, midwife, obstetrician, nurse, manager or person in charge of a maternity home or hospital, parent, relative, or person attending upon or assisting at the birth of an infant, violates any of the provisions of sections eight or ten of this article, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than ten nor more than $50.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3A. Repository of Information on Medical Treatment for Certain Hazardous Materials; Request for Information; Penalties; Enforcement › §16-3A-1. Purpose and Legislative Findings

(a) The purpose of this article is to provide a centralized repository of information on hazardous materials and to identify the chemical elements of such materials, the harmful effects of exposure to such materials and the proper recommended emergency medical treatment for exposure to such hazardous materials.
(b) The Legislature finds that there is a lack of adequate information concerning hazardous materials, present in West Virginia, the immediate effects of exposure to such hazardous materials on human beings and the appropriate emergency medical treatment for exposure to hazardous materials. This lack of information increases the medical health risks of persons or communities who are exposed to hazardous materials. The prompt availability of this information would afford increased protection to persons and communities exposed to hazardous materials.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3B. Pertussis › §16-3B-1. Definitions

(a) "Health care provider" means any licensed health care professional, organization or institution, whether public or private, under whose authority pertussis vaccine is administered.
(b) "Major adverse reaction" means any serious illness, disability or impairment of mental, emotional, behavioral or physical functioning or development, the first manifestation of which appears within four weeks after the date of administration of pertussis vaccine and for which there is reasonable scientific or medical evidence that pertussis vaccine causes, or significantly contributed to, such effect.
(c) "Any other adverse reaction" means any reaction which the department, after consultation with the medical and pharmacy faculties of West Virginia's teaching hospitals, determines by guideline is a basis for not continuing with pertussis vaccine administration.
(d) "Pertussis vaccine" means any vaccine that contains materials intended to prevent the occurrence of pertussis, whether or not the materials are administered separately or in conjunction with other materials intended to prevent the occurrence of other diseases.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3B. Pertussis › §16-3B-2. Information Supplied to Individuals' Parents Prior to Administration of Pertussis Vaccine

(a) Prior to the administration of pertussis vaccine, the health care provider shall provide to the individual's parent or guardian written information satisfying the requirements of this section, and by appropriate inquiries attempt to elicit the information necessary to make the determinations required by this section:
(1) The frequency, severity and potential long-term effects of pertussis;
(2) Possible adverse reactions to pertussis vaccine which, if they occur, should be brought to the immediate attention of the health care provider;
(3) A form listing symptoms to be monitored and containing places where information can be recorded to assist in reporting to the health care provider, health officer and the department;
(4) Measures parents should take to reduce the risk of, or to respond to, any adverse reaction;
(5) Early warning signs or symptoms to which parents should be alert as possible precursors to an adverse reaction;
(6) When and to whom parents should report any adverse reaction; and
(7) The information required under section four of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3B. Pertussis › §16-3B-3. Recordation of Pertussis Vaccine Administration

(a) At the time of administration of pertussis vaccine to an individual, the health care provider shall record in a permanent record to which the patient or the patient's parent or guardian shall have access on request:
(1) The date of each vaccination;
(2) The manufacturer and lot number of the vaccine used for each;
(3) Any other identifying information on the vaccine used; and
(4) The name and title of the health care provider.
(b) Within twenty-four hours after an adverse reaction is recognized by any health care provider who has administered pertussis vaccine to an individual and has reason to believe that the individual has had a major adverse reaction to the vaccine, such health care provider shall:
(1) Record all relevant information in the individual's permanent medical record; and
(2) Report the information including the manufacturer's name and lot number to the county health officer who shall immediately forward the information to the department. On receipt of the information, the department shall immediately notify the vaccine manufacturer, and the United States centers for disease control.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3B. Pertussis › §16-3B-4. Data Collection on Pertussis Vaccine Administration

(a) By guideline, the department shall establish a system, sufficient for the purposes of subsections (b) and (c) of this section, to collect data from the local health officers, from public and private health care providers and from parents on the incidence of pertussis and major adverse reactions to pertussis vaccine.
(b) On the basis of information collected under this subsection and of other information available, the department shall periodically revise and update the information required by and the guidelines adopted under 16-3B-2 of this code.
(c) The department shall report to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all information collected under this section, including that received under 16-3B-3 of this code.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3B. Pertussis › §16-3B-5. Public Hearings

(a) The department shall adopt guidelines, after notice and public hearing in accordance with the administrative procedures act, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, setting forth:
(1) The circumstances under which pertussis vaccine should not be administered;
(2) The circumstances under which administration of the vaccine should be delayed;
(3) Any categories of potential recipients who are significantly more vulnerable to major adverse reactions than is the general population; and
(4) Procedures to notify all health care providers of the content of the final guidelines and all updates issued thereafter.
(b) The administration of pertussis vaccine to an individual may not be required by any provision of law if, in the judgment of the health care provider:
(1) The circumstances specified under this section are present; or
(2) Taking into account the information specified under this section as well as all other relevant information, the risk to the potential recipient outweighs the benefits both to the potential recipient and to the public in administering the vaccine.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect any emergency authority of the director of health under any other provision of law to protect the public health.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3C. AIDS-Related Medical Testing and Records Confidentiality Act › §16-3C-4. Substituted Consent

(a) If the person whose consent is necessary under this article for HIV-related testing or the authorization of the release of test results is unable to give such consent or authorization because of mental incapacity or incompetency, the consent or authorization shall be obtained from another person in the following order of preference:
(1) A person holding a durable power of attorney for health care decisions;
(2) The person's duly appointed legal guardian;
(3) The person's next-of-kin in the following order of preference: spouse, parent, adult child, sibling, uncle or aunt, and grandparent.
(b) The person's inability to consent shall not be permitted to result in prolonged delay or denial of necessary medical treatment.
(c) The information required to be provided to the patient pursuant to subsections (b) and (d), section two of this article, shall be provided to the person giving substituted consent hereunder.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3C. AIDS-Related Medical Testing and Records Confidentiality Act › §16-3C-5. Remedies and Penalties

(a) Any person aggrieved by a violation of this article has right of action in the circuit court and may recover for the violation:
(1) Against any person who recklessly violates a provision of this article, liquidated damages of $1,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater; or
(2) Against any person who intentionally or maliciously violated a provision of this article, liquidated damages of $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater; and
(3) Reasonable attorney fees; and
(4) Such other relief, including an injunction, as the court may consider appropriate.
(b) Any action under this article is barred unless the action is commenced within five years after the violation occurs.
(c) Nothing in this article limits the rights of the subject of an HIV-related test to recover damages or other relief under any other applicable law.
(d) Nothing in this article may be construed to impose civil liability for disclosure of an HIV-related test result in accordance with any reporting guidelines or requirements of the department or the centers for disease control of the United States Public Health Service.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3C. AIDS-Related Medical Testing and Records Confidentiality Act › §16-3C-6. Prohibiting Certain Acts; HIV Tests Results

(a) A positive HIV test report, or the diagnosis of AIDS related complex (ARC), or the diagnosis of the AIDS syndrome or disease, may not constitute a basis upon which to deny the individual so diagnosed, access to quality health care: Provided, That this subsection does not apply to insurance.
(b) No student of any school or institution of higher learning, public or private, may be excluded from attending the school or institution of higher learning, or from participating in school sponsored activities, on the basis of a positive HIV test, or a diagnosis of ARC, or AIDS syndrome or disease. Exclusion from attendance or participation, as described above, shall be determined on a case by case basis, in consultation with the individual's parents, medical care provider, health authorities, school or institution administrators or medical advisors, in accordance with policies and guidelines which may have been established by the entities. Exclusion may only be based on the student representing an unacceptable risk as agreed to by the department for the transmission of the HIV to others because of the stage or nature of the illness.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3C. AIDS-Related Medical Testing and Records Confidentiality Act › §16-3C-8. Administrative Implementation

(a) The commissioner of the bureau shall immediately implement and enforce the provisions of this article, and shall adopt rules to the extent necessary for further implementation of the article. The rules proposed by the bureau pursuant to this article may include procedures for taking appropriate action with regard to health care facilities or health care providers which violate this article or the rules promulgated hereunder. The provisions of the state administrative procedures act apply to all administrative rules and procedures of the bureau pursuant to this article, except that in case of conflict between the state administrative procedures act and this article, the provisions of this article shall control.
(b) The bureau shall promulgate rules to assure adequate quality control for all laboratories conducting HIV tests and to provide for a reporting and monitoring system for reporting to the bureau all positive HIV tests results.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3C. AIDS-Related Medical Testing and Records Confidentiality Act › §16-3C-9. Individual Banking of Blood by Health Care Providers for Elective Surgery or Medical Procedures

Any person may, in contemplation of elective surgery or other elective medical procedures for which a blood transfusion may be required, request the health care provider conducting such surgery or medical procedure, or any private, public or nonprofit blood bank, to make or cause to be made appropriate provisions to store and bank that individual's blood for use during such surgery or medical procedure. The health care provider or the private, public or nonprofit blood bank shall, upon such request, store and bank a person's blood and the health care provider shall use such blood in the elective surgery or medical procedure to the extent such blood is available.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3D. Tuberculosis Testing, Control, Treatment and Commitment › §16-3D-1. Purpose and Legislative Findings

(a) The purpose of this article is to bring together the state law governing compulsory testing for tuberculosis (TB) of students and school personnel as well as the statutes pertaining to the treatment, control and commitment of persons with the disease at hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities throughout the state.
(b) The targeted tuberculin testing and treatment guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the year two thousand recommends that routine testing of low-risk populations for administrative purposes be discontinued. The elimination of routine retesting of school personnel in accordance with this recommendation will result in significant savings to the state.
(c) According to the CDC, high risk groups or persons that should be tested for latent TB infection include:
(1) Close contacts of a person known or suspected to have TB;
(2) Foreign-born persons from areas where TB is common;
(3) Residents and employees of high-risk congregate settings;
(4) Health care workers who serve high-risk clients;
(5) Medically underserved, low-income populations;
(6) High-Risk racial or ethnic minority populations;
(7) Children exposed to adults in high-risk categories;
(8) Persons who inject illicit drugs;
(9) Persons with HIV infection; and
(10) Persons with certain medical conditions, such as substance abuse, chest X-ray findings suggestive of previous TB, diabetes mellitus, silicosis, prolonged corticosteroid therapy, other immunosuppressive therapy, cancer of the head and neck, end-stage renal disease, intestinal bypass or gastrectomy, chronic malabsorption syndromes, or low body weight of ten percent or more below the ideal.
(d) Early diagnosis, proper and complete treatment for people with active TB disease prevents transmission to others as well as preventing the emergence of multidrug resistant TB.
(e) The TB Control Program should be funded at levels necessary to accomplish directly observed therapy for all patients with active TB disease in West Virginia and to implement targeted testing of high-risk groups.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3D. Tuberculosis Testing, Control, Treatment and Commitment › §16-3D-2. Definitions

As used in this article:
(1) "Active Tuberculosis" or "Tuberculosis" means a communicable disease caused by the bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is demonstrated by clinical, bacteriological, radiographic or epidemiological evidence. An infected person whose tuberculosis has progressed to active disease may experience symptoms such as coughing, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite and weight loss and is capable of spreading the disease to others if the tuberculosis germs are active in the lungs or throat.
(2) "Bureau" means the Bureau for Public Health in the Department of Health and Human Resources;
(3) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health, who is the state health officer;
(4) "Local board of health," "local board" or "board" means a board of health serving one or more counties or one or more municipalities or a combination thereof;
(5) "Local health department" means the staff of the local board of health; and
(6) "Local health officer" means the individual physician with a current West Virginia license to practice medicine who supervises and directs the activities of the local health department services, staff and facilities and is appointed by the local board of health with approval by the commissioner.
(7) "Tuberculosis suspect" means a person who is suspected of having tuberculosis disease due to any or all of the following medical factors: the presence of symptoms, the result of a positive skin test, risk factors for tuberculosis, or findings on an abnormal chest x ray, during the time period when an active tuberculosis disease diagnosis is pending.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3D. Tuberculosis Testing, Control, Treatment and Commitment › §16-3D-3. Compulsory Testing for Tuberculosis of School Children and School Personnel; Commissioner to Approve the Test; X Rays Required for Reactors; Suspension From School or Employment for Pupils and Personnel Found to Have Tuberculosis

(a) Pupils found or suspected to have active tuberculosis shall be temporarily removed from school while their case is reviewed and evaluated by their personal physician and the local health officer. Pupils shall return to school when their personal physician and the local health officer, in consultation with the commissioner, indicate that it is safe and appropriate for them to return.
(b) School personnel found or suspected to have active tuberculosis shall have their employment suspended until the local health officer, in consultation with the commissioner, approves a return to work.
(c) The commissioner may require selective testing of students and school personnel for tuberculosis when there is reason to believe that they may have been exposed to the tuberculosis organism or they have signs and symptoms indicative of the disease. School nurses shall identify and refer any students or school personnel to the local health department in instances where they have reason to suspect that the individual has been exposed to tuberculosis or has symptoms indicative of the disease.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3D. Tuberculosis Testing, Control, Treatment and Commitment › §16-3D-4. Report of Cases, Admissions, Registration of Patients

(a) Every physician practicing in this state, every public health officer in the state, and every chief medical officer having charge of any hospital or clinic or other similar public or private institution in the state shall report electronically or in writing to the local health department in the patient's county of residence all information required by the Commissioner for every person having tuberculosis who comes under his or her observation or care. Such report shall be made within twenty-four hours after diagnosis.
(b) Every local health department shall forward all reports of tuberculosis cases filed pursuant to this section to the Bureau tuberculosis program within twenty-four hours of receipt of such reports.
(c) The chief medical officer of each tuberculosis institution, hospital or other health care facility shall report the admission of any patient with tuberculosis to the Bureau together with any other information the Commissioner may require. He or she shall make a similar report of the discharge or death of any patient. From such reports and other sources, the Bureau shall prepare and keep current a register of persons in this state with tuberculosis. The name of a person so registered shall not be made public nor shall the register be accessible to anyone except by order of the Bureau, the patient, or by the order of the judge of a court of record.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3D. Tuberculosis Testing, Control, Treatment and Commitment › §16-3D-5. Forms for Reporting and Committing Patients; Other Records

(a) The Bureau shall prescribe the written and electronic forms for reporting all required information regarding patients with tuberculosis.
(b) The Bureau shall prescribe the written and electronic forms to be used in committing patients to any state hospital or other health care facility where care and treatment of tuberculosis patients is conducted.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3D. Tuberculosis Testing, Control, Treatment and Commitment › §16-3D-6. Cost of Maintenance and Treatment of Patients

The cost of maintenance and treatment of patients admitted to state designated tuberculosis institutions shall be paid out of funds appropriated for the respective institutions. No patient shall be required to pay for such maintenance and treatment, but the institutions are authorized to receive any voluntary payments therefore.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 3D. Tuberculosis Testing, Control, Treatment and Commitment › §16-3D-8. Return of Escapees From State Tuberculosis Institutions

If any person confined in a state tuberculosis institution by virtue of an order of a circuit court as provided in sections seven and nine of this article shall escape, the chief medical officer shall issue a notice giving the name and description of the person escaping and requesting his or her apprehension and return to the hospital. The chief medical officer shall issue a warrant directed to the sheriff of the county commanding him or her to arrest and carry the escaped person back to the hospital, which warrant may be executed in any part of the state. If the person flees to another state, the chief medical officer shall notify the appropriate state health official in the state where the person has fled, and that state health official may take the actions that are necessary for the return of the person to the hospital.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 4. Sexually Transmitted Diseases › §16-4-1. Diseases Designated as Sexually Transmitted

Sexually transmitted diseases, as designated by the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources in rules proposed for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, are hereby declared to be infectious, contagious, communicable and dangerous to the public health. If a conflict exists between a provision of this article and a provision of article three-c of this chapter, the provision of article three-c prevails.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 4. Sexually Transmitted Diseases › §16-4-2. Investigations by Local Health Officers

(a) All municipal and county health officers shall:
(1) Use every available means to ascertain the existence of, and to investigate all cases of sexually transmitted disease coming within their respective jurisdictions and, when it is necessary, have all cases treated, if they are not already under treatment;
(2) To ascertain the sources and transmission of the infection; and
(3) To institute measures for the protection of other persons from infection by the infected person, or from persons reasonably suspected of being so infected, and for the protection of the public health at all times.
(b) A municipal health officer may designate any member of the city police or health department to make any investigation required by the provisions of this section. A county health officer may designate any discreet person to make any investigation required by the provisions of this section. Any person conducting an investigation has all authority necessary for the purpose, the same as the health officer.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 4. Sexually Transmitted Diseases › §16-4-3. Medical Clinics and Detention Houses

In order to carry out the provisions of the last section, any health officer may, if he be a municipal health officer, with the consent of the municipal council or other body having proper authority, or if he be a county health officer, with the consent of the county commissioners or other tribunal, establish, either independently or in cooperation with other agencies, one or more medical clinics within their respective jurisdictions, and may also, with like consent, establish or provide one or more places for detention and quarantine of such persons as may come within the purview of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 4. Sexually Transmitted Diseases › §16-4-4. Evidence of Infection

The following are prima facie grounds and reasons for suspecting that a person is infected with a sexually transmitted disease:
(a) Being a person who has been convicted in any court, or before a police judge, or before a magistrate, upon any charge growing out of sexual behavior;
(b) Being a person reported by a physician as infected with a sexually transmitted disease, where the person is afterwards reported as having failed to return for treatment; and
(c) Being a person designated in a sexually transmitted disease report as having a sexual exposure to the infected person reported.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 4. Sexually Transmitted Diseases › §16-4-5. Examination of Convicts; Liability for Expenses

When any person has been tried and convicted in any police court, or in any criminal or circuit court, or before a justice of the peace, upon any charge or offense growing out of sex immorality, such as has been set out in the last preceding section, said person shall not be released from custody by the judge, justice, or police officer trying the case until the local health officer having proper jurisdiction has been notified and has had time to make all necessary tests and examinations to ascertain whether in fact such person is infected with a venereal disease, and all necessary expenses for holding such person in custody pending examination and treatment, if needed, shall be a proper charge against the municipality, if the offense was committed within it, or against the county in which the offense was committed, if committed outside of a municipality; and every municipality, whether it be a county seat or not, shall be liable under this section.