Massachusetts Statutes

Section 198. Violations of this section shall not constitute violations of the state sanitary code when (i) an owner has received a letter of full compliance, or (ii) an owner has received a letter of interim control; provided that in the case where an owner has received a letter…

Section 199. (a) Except as provided in section one hundred and ninety-seven D, the owner of any premises shall be liable for all damages to a child under six years of age at the time of poisoning, upon proof that said child's blood lead level equals or exceeds the blood lead leve…

Section 199A. (a) It shall be an unlawful practice for purposes of chapter one hundred and fifty-one B for the owner, lessee, sublessee, real estate broker, assignee, or managing agent of any premises to refuse to sell, rent, lease or otherwise deny to or withhold from any person…

Section 199B. The provisions of sections one hundred and eighty-nine A to one hundred and ninety-nine A, inclusive, shall not apply to any dwelling unit having fewer than two hundred and fifty square feet of floor space calculated on the basis of total habitable room area or whic…

Section 2. The commissioner shall administer the laws relative to health and sanitation and the regulations of the department, and shall prepare rules and regulations for the consideration of the council. The secretary of aging and independence and the commissioner shall jointly …

Section 20. The department shall, semiannually, inspect each correctional institution, as defined in section one of chapter one hundred and twenty-five, and shall, annually, inspect each lockup established pursuant to the provisions of section thirty-four of chapter forty or unde…

Section 201. Members of police and fire departments, members of the state police participating in highway patrol, persons appointed permanent or temporary lifeguards by the commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions, and members of emergency reserve units of a volunteer fi…

Section 202. As used in this section, ''fetal death'' means death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a fetus, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, as indicated by the fact that after such expulsion or extraction the fetus does not breathe or sh…

Section 203. (a) The by-laws of every licensed or public hospital and the by-laws of all medical staffs shall contain provisions for reporting conduct by a health care provider that indicates incompetency in his specialty or conduct that might be inconsistent with or harmful to g…

Section 204. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the proceedings, reports and records of a medical peer review committee shall be confidential and shall be exempt from the disclosure of public records under section 10 of chapter 66 but shall not be subject to subpoe…

Section 205. (a) As used in this section the following terms shall have the following meanings: ''Health care facility'', any entity required to participate in risk management and quality assurance programs established by the board of registration in medicine. ''Patient care asse…

Section 206. The department shall establish a program to reduce the incidence among the general public of mortality and morbidity from accidents and diseases for which risk factors can be identified. Such risk factors shall include, but not be limited to emotional stress, lack of…

Section 206A. (a) The department, in consultation with the division of insurance, shall provide a seal of approval to wellness programs implemented by businesses. In developing criteria for a wellness seal of approval, the department shall consider: (i) actuarial equivalency to p…

Section 207. For the purposes of sections two hundred and eight to two hundred and fourteen, inclusive, the following words shall, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, have the following meanings: ''Board of health'' or ''board'', the board of health, including the boa…

Section 208. No access shall be provided to any tanning device by a tanning facility until said facility has been granted a license therefor by the board of health. Each license granted hereunder shall expire one year from the date of its issue. The fee for each such license and …

Section 209. A tanning facility shall give each customer a written statement of warning and shall post a notice in a conspicuous place in every area in which a tanning device is used. Said statement or notice shall be at least eight and one-half inches wide by eleven inches long …

Section 21. The department shall make rules and regulations for police station houses, lockups, houses of detention, jails, houses of correction, prisons and reformatories, regarding the care and use of drinking cups and of dishes used for food, the care and use of bedding, appro…

Section 210. A tanning facility shall at all times during operating hours have an operator present who is sufficiently knowledgeable in the correct operation of the tanning devices used at the tanning facility to be able to inform and assist each customer in the proper use of suc…

Section 211. No person under 18 years of age shall use a tanning device.

Section 212. No tanning facility shall claim or distribute promotional material that claims that use of a tanning device is safe and free from risk. The liability of a tanning facility operator or the manufacturer of a tanning device shall not be affected by the giving of the war…

Section 213. The board of health, local health agent, or department shall have access at all reasonable times to any tanning facility for the purposes of inspecting said facility. The department may promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of sections two…

Section 214. Whoever violates any provision of sections two hundred and seven to two hundred and thirteen, inclusive, or any rule or regulation of the department promulgated thereunder shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dol…

Section 215. The department of public health may implement needle exchange programs for the exchange of needles in cities and towns. Prior to implementation of a needle exchange program, approval shall be obtained from the board of health in the hosting city or town. The city or …

Section 216. All fragrance advertising inserts contained in a newspaper, magazine, mailing, or other periodically printed material shall contain only microencapsulated oils. Glue tabs or binders shall be used to prevent premature activation of the fragrance advertising insert. Fr…

Section 218. (a) The commissioner, in collaboration with the commissioner of insurance, shall establish guidelines, criteria, and rules or regulations, as may be necessary, to ensure that human leukocyte antigen testing or histocompatibility locus antigen testing conducted for th…

Section 219. The commissioner shall adopt regulations requiring a public or private secondary school, college, university, child care center or youth camp to distribute to the parent or guardian of a child in its care information regarding the risk of meningococcal disease and th…

Section 22. No station house, house of detention or lockup shall be built until the department has approved, in writing, the plans for the provisions for lighting, heating, ventilation and plumbing, the dimensions and form of construction and the location of the cells. The commis…

Section 220. (a) As used in this section, the following words, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, shall have the following meanings:— ''Forensic examination'', the collection, preservation and documentation of forensic evidence. ''Forensic evidence'', evidence collec…

Section 220A. (a) The commissioner shall develop and administer a program of education for the prevention of the practice of female genital mutilation. The program shall be designed to provide information about the health risks and emotional trauma inflicted by the practice of fe…

Section 221. (a) A mother may breastfeed her child in any public place or establishment or place which is open to and accepts or solicits the patronage of the general public and where the mother and her child may otherwise lawfully be present. (b) Notwithstanding any general or s…

Section 222. (a) The department shall direct the division of violence and injury prevention to develop an interscholastic athletic head injury safety training program in which all public schools and any school subject to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association rule…

Section 223. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, have the following meanings:— ''Competitive foods or beverages'', all foods or beverages sold or provided in: (i) a la carte lines in school cafeterias; (ii) schoo…

Section 224. There shall be a commission on falls preventions within the department. The commission shall consist of the commissioner of public health or the commissioner's designee, who shall chair the commission; the secretary of aging and independence or the secretary's design…

Section 225. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings: ''Anatomic pathology service'', histopathology, surgical pathology, cytopathology, hematology, subcellular pathology, molecula…

Section 226. For purposes of this section, ''mandatory overtime'' shall mean any hours worked by a nurse in a hospital setting to deliver patient care, beyond the predetermined and regularly scheduled number of hours that the hospital and nurse have agreed that the employee shall…

Section 227. (a) As used in this section the following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings: ''Appropriate'', consistent with applicable legal, health and professional standards, the patient's clinical and other circumstances and…

Section 228. (a) As used in this section ''allowed amount'', shall mean the contractually agreed-upon maximum amount paid by a carrier to a health care provider for a health care service provided to an insured. (b) (1) Upon scheduling an admission, procedure or service for a pati…

Section 229. (a) The commissioner shall adopt regulations requiring all elementary and secondary schools and all providers of early education to distribute to the parent or guardian of a child in its care information regarding the benefits of annual immunization against influenza…

Section 23. The commissioner of environmental protection shall make an annual report, including the results of the examination of main outlets of sewers and drainage of towns and the effect of sewage disposal, with such recommendations for the preservation of the interest of pers…

Section 230. The department shall administer a folic acid awareness initiative to increase public awareness of and education on the importance of folic acid to patients, families and health care providers. As part of the initiative, the department shall consider efforts to ensure…

Section 231. For the purposes of this section, the term ''intensive care units'' shall have the same meaning as defined in 105 CMR 130.020 and shall include intensive care units within a hospital operated by the commonwealth. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the cont…

Section 232. The department, in consultation with the executive office of public safety and security shall, subject to appropriation, collect, record and analyze data on all suicides in the commonwealth. Data collected for each incident shall include, to the extent possible and w…

Section 233. (a) As used in sections 233 and 234 the following word shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meaning: ''Palliative care'', patient and family-centered medical care that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and trea…

Section 234. Subject to appropriation, there shall be a statewide palliative care consumer and professional information and education program within the department. The program shall work to maximize the effectiveness of palliative care initiatives in the commonwealth by making c…

Section 235. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: ''Health care practitioner'', a person licensed or registered under section 2, 16, 74 or 74A of chapter 112 who conducts or assi…

Section 236. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:— ''Auxiliary aids and services'', auxiliary aids and services as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended by 42…