Title 7, Human Health Care and Safety.

(a) Subject to restrictions by a physician for good cause, each person has the right to receive visitors of his or her own choosing daily. Hours during which visitors may be received shall be limited only in the interest of effective treatment and the reasonable efficiency of the…

No psychosurgery, convulsive therapy, experimental treatment or behavior modifications program involving aversive stimuli or deprivation of rights set forth in this subchapter shall be administered to any resident.

(a) Except in accordance with the procedures described in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, in § 21-2212, or as otherwise provided by law, no DDS person shall be given services pursuant to this chapter absent the person’s informed consent. In seeking informed consent, the …

(a) The DDS Administrator shall establish an independent panel to review all proposals to administer psychotropic medications to persons made pursuant to § 7-1305.06a(c)(2) and in accordance with the administrative procedures established by DDS in accordance with subchapter I of …

(a) By April 15, 2009, the DDS shall complete a psychotropic medication review for all persons served by DDS. (b) By October 17, 2008, the DDS shall establish written procedures, which shall include timelines and shall identify responsible entities or persons, for promptly implem…

(a) It shall be the policy of the District government to ensure that all persons who become incapable of making or communicating health-care decisions for themselves have available health-care decision-makers. In addition, it shall be the policy of DDS to ensure that every person…

No person served at a facility shall be sterilized by any employee of a facility or by any other person acting at the direction of, or under the authorization of, the Director or any other employee of a facility.

Persons shall have a right not to be subjected to experimental research without the express and informed consent of the person, or if the person cannot give informed consent, of the person’s parent or guardian. Such proposed research shall first have been reviewed and approved by…

(a) Mistreatment, neglect or abuse in any form of any person shall be prohibited. The routine use of all forms of restraint shall be eliminated. Physical or chemical restraint shall be employed only when absolutely necessary to prevent a person from seriously injuring himself or …

(a) No person shall be compelled to perform labor which involves the operation, support, or maintenance of the facility or for which the facility is under contract with an outside organization. Privileges or release from the facility shall not be conditional upon the performance …

(a) Complete records for each person shall be maintained and shall be readily available to professional persons and to the staff workers who are directly involved with the particular person and to the Department on Disability Services without divulging the identity of the person.…

(a) Any interested party shall have the right to initiate an action in the Court to compel the rights afforded persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities under this chapter. (b) Any person shall have the right to a civil remedy in an amount not less than $25 per day …

(a) No person shall be deprived of any civil right, or public or private employment, solely by reason of his or her having received services, voluntarily or involuntarily, for an intellectual or developmental disability. (b) Any person who has been admitted or committed to a faci…

If a person is committed by the Court to DDS pursuant to this chapter or committed by the Court to the Department of Mental Health pursuant to subchapter IV of Chapter 5 of Title 21, or if a person is temporarily placed with DDS pursuant to § 7-1303.12a during the pendency of com…

Should any provision of this chapter be declared to be unconstitutional or beyond the statutory authority of the Council, the remaining provisions of this chapter shall remain in effect.

Individuals currently deemed eligible and receiving services under this subchapter shall not have their eligibility altered or impacted by the Developmental Disability Eligibility Reform Amendment Act of 2022 ([, passed on 2nd reading on March 1, 2022 (Enrolled version of Bill 24…

There is hereby authorized to be appropriated such District funds as may be necessary and available to implement the provisions of this chapter, including funds for the development, and the support, of community-based services for persons with intellectual or developmental disabi…

The Mayor, pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2, shall issue rules to implement the provisions of this chapter.

Nothing herein shall be construed to extend or diminish the authority or responsibility of the D.C. Board of Education vested pursuant to Title 38 of the District of Columbia Official Code and applicable federal laws and regulations.

This chapter shall take effect pursuant to the provisions of § 1-206.02(c)(1). With respect to persons who are residents in facilities on the effective date of this chapter, the provisions of the chapter will take effect immediately, with the exception of the admission and commit…

(a) There is established within the Department of Health Care Finance a Health Care Safety Net Administration to administer and monitor compliance with any contract that the Mayor makes, pursuant to § 7-1405, or that the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility Management As…

(a) The functions, real and personal property, personnel, unexpended balances of appropriations, and records of the Public Benefit Corporation shall be transferred to the Department of Health. (b) Any monies remaining in the Health and Hospitals Public Benefit Corporation Fund af…

All liabilities of the Public Benefit Corporation shall be assumed by the District of Columbia.

(a) The Mayor is authorized to provide by contract or by other means comprehensive community-centered health care and medical services for residents of the District of Columbia. (a-1) Effective October 1, 2025, the Mayor may, notwithstanding any other law: (1) Limit the services …

The Mayor, pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2, may issue rules to implement the provisions of this chapter. The proposed rules shall be submitted to the Council for a 30-day period of review, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and days of Council recess. …

(a) For the purposes of this subchapter, the term “human body parts” means any portion of a living human body, including, but not limited to, organs, tissues, eyes, bones, veins, and arteries, except that the term shall not mean hair and blood. (b) It is unlawful for any person i…

(a) Any person violating any provision of this subchapter or any regulation made pursuant to this subchapter shall be fined not more than $5,000, or be imprisoned for not more than 6 months, or both. (b) Prosecution for violations of this subchapter and regulations made pursuant …

The Mayor may issue rules to implement the provisions of this subchapter pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2.

For the purposes of this subchapter and, unless specifically provided otherwise, subchapter III of this chapter [§ 7-1541.01 et seq.], and §§ 43-119 and 43-125, the term: (1) “Adult” means an individual who is at least 18 years of age. (2) “Agent” means an individual: (A) Authori…

This subchapter applies to an anatomical gift or amendment to, revocation of, or refusal to make an anatomical gift, whenever made.

Subject to § 7-1531.07, an anatomical gift of a donor’s body or part may be made during the life of the donor for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education in the manner provided in § 7-1531.04 by: (1) The donor, if the donor is an adult or if the donor is a…

(a) A donor may make an anatomical gift: (1) By authorizing a statement or symbol indicating that the donor has made an anatomical gift to be imprinted on the donor’s driver’s license or identification card; (2) In a will; (3) During a terminal illness or injury of the donor, by …

(a) Subject to § 7-1531.07, a donor or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift under § 7-1531.03 may amend or revoke an anatomical gift by: (1) A record signed by: (A) The donor; (B) The other person; or (C) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, another individual…

(a) An individual may refuse to make an anatomical gift of the individual’s body or part by: (1) A record signed by: (A) The individual; or (B) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, another individual acting at the direction of the individual if the individual is physically …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (g) of this section and subject to subsection (f) of this section, in the absence of an express, contrary indication by the donor, a person other than the donor is barred from making, amending, or revoking an anatomical gift of a don…

(a) Subject to subsections (b) and (c) of this section and unless barred by § 7-1531.06 or § 7-1531.07, an anatomical gift of a decedent’s body or part for purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education may be made by any member of the following classes of persons wh…

(a) A person authorized to make an anatomical gift under § 7-1531.08 may make an anatomical gift by a document of gift signed by the person making the gift or by that person’s oral communication that is electronically recorded or is contemporaneously reduced to a record and signe…

(a) An anatomical gift may be made to the following persons named in the document of gift: (1) A hospital; accredited medical school, dental school, college, or university; organ procurement organization; or other appropriate person authorized by the Mayor, for research or educat…

(a) The following persons shall make a reasonable search of an individual who the person reasonably believes is dead or whose death is imminent for a document of gift or other information identifying the individual as a donor or as an individual who made a refusal: (1) A law enfo…

(a) A document of gift need not be delivered during the donor’s lifetime to be effective. (b) Upon or after an individual’s death, a person in possession of a document of gift or a refusal to make an anatomical gift with respect to the individual shall allow examination and copyi…

(a) When a hospital or hospice refers an individual who is dead or whose death is imminent to a procurement organization, the organization shall make a reasonable search of the records of the Department of Motor Vehicles and any donor registry that it knows exists for the geograp…

Each hospital in the District of Columbia shall enter into agreements or affiliations with procurement organizations for coordination of procurement and use of anatomical gifts.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, a person that, for valuable consideration, knowingly purchases or sells a part for transplantation, therapy, research, education, or any other purpose, if removal of a part from an individual is intended to occur…

A person that, in order to obtain a financial gain, intentionally falsifies, forges, conceals, defaces, or obliterates a document of gift, an amendment or revocation of a document of gift, or a refusal commits a felony and upon conviction is subject to a fine not exceeding $50,00…

(a) A person that acts in accordance with this subchapter or with the applicable anatomical gift law of another state, or attempts in good faith to do so, is not liable for the act in a civil action, criminal prosecution, or administrative proceeding. (b) Neither the person makin…

(a) A document of gift is valid if executed in accordance with: (1) This subchapter; (2) The laws of the state or country where it was executed; or (3) The laws of the state or country where the person making the anatomical gift was domiciled, has a place of residence, or was a n…