Title 41, Public Health

If at the hearing the court shall find that the person is suffering from active tuberculosis and that his commitment is in the best interest of the public’s health, an order adjudging such fact shall be entered and the clerk shall issue a writ directed to the sheriff to deliver s…

(a) For the purposes of Sections 41-34-1 through 41-34-7 the following terms shall have the following meanings:(a) “Health-care provider” shall mean a person licensed by this state to provide health care or professional services as a physician, podiatrist, registered nurse, licen…

Each board licensing health-care providers may establish by rule and regulation practice requirements based, in part, on applicable guidelines from the Federal Centers for Disease Control which will protect the public from the transmission of the Hepatitis B Virus and Human Immun…

The boards may establish by rule and regulation requirements and procedures for a licensee and a licensure applicant to report his/her status as a carrier of the Hepatitis B Virus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus to the board and shall enforce such requirements and procedures.

Each report of Hepatitis B Virus carrier status or Human Immunodeficiency Virus carrier status filed in compliance with this section and each record maintained and meetings held by the boards in the course of monitoring a licensee for compliance with the practice requirements est…

Any inflammation, swelling or redness in either or both eyes of any infant, either apart from or together with any unnatural discharge from the eye or eyes of any such infant, independent of the nature of the infection, if any occurring, any time within two (2) weeks after birth …

The failure of any person to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a misdemeanor. The offender shall, on conviction thereof, be fined for the first offense not to exceed Fifty Dollars $(50.00), for the second offense, not to exceed One Hundred Dollars…

It shall be the duty of any physician, surgeon, obstetrician, midwife, nurse, maternity home or hospital of any nature, parent, relative or other person attendant on or assisting in any way whatsoever, any infant, or the mother of any infant, at childbirth, or at any time within …

It shall be the duty of the local health officer: (1) to investigate or to have investigated each case of inflammation of the eyes of the new born as filed with him, in pursuance of the law, and any other such case as may come to his attention; (2) to report all cases of inflamma…

It shall be the duty of the State Board of Health: (1) To enforce the provisions of this chapter; (2) to promulgate such rules and regulations as shall, under this chapter, be necessary for the purpose under this chapter, and such as the State Board of Health may deem necessary f…

It shall be the duty of the physicians, midwives, or other persons in attendance upon a case of childbirth in a maternity home, hospital, public or charitable institution, in every infant immediately after birth, to use some prophylactic against inflammation of the eyes of the ne…

This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Determination of Death Law.

An individual who has sustained either (a) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or (b) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, is dead. A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medi…

The term “autopsy” as used in this chapter shall be construed to mean the scientific examination of the body of a deceased person, or any portion thereof, by acceptable scientific methods and the removal and retention of parts of the body to accomplish such an examination. The te…

The physician performing the autopsy in criminal investigations may obtain the services of a chemist competent to make a chemical analysis, or such services may be ordered by such judge or chancellor in term time or in vacation. The records of such chemical analysis shall be made…

In all cases where an autopsy is performed as provided in Section 41-37-9, the person making said autopsy shall file a report, in duplicate, of said autopsy with the circuit clerk of the county where the death is being investigated. Such circuit clerk shall keep and preserve said…

The physician performing the autopsy shall be paid a fee not exceeding the sum of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), which sum shall be paid out of the treasury of the county in the interest of which the autopsy was ordered, upon the allowance and warrant of the board of supervisors …

In cases where the disinterment of a body is ordered, the sheriff shall be reimbursed for all expenses incurred by him, which sum shall be paid out of the treasury of the county where the deceased came to his death, upon the allowance and warrant of the board of supervisors of su…

No evidence obtained through any autopsy performed under the provisions of Section 41-37-9 shall be admitted over the objection of any party in the trial of any civil cause before a court or commission of this state.

The physician performing the autopsy or the chemist performing such analysis in criminal investigations may be subpoenaed as a witness in any such criminal case. If subpoenaed as a prosecution witness, he shall be paid a fee of Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per day as an expert witness …

The executive officer of the Mississippi State Board of Health or a county health officer may petition in like manner as is provided in Section 41-37-9 a circuit judge, chancellor, or county judge in any county in which a person dies or where the body of such deceased person may …

An autopsy may be performed without court order by a qualified physician when authorized by (a) the decedent, during his lifetime, or (b) any of the following persons who have assumed custody of the body for the purpose of burial: a surviving spouse, either parent or any person i…

An autopsy may be performed, as provided by this chapter, for the purpose of determining the primary and/or contributing cause of death in the interest of public health and in criminal cases.

Only a physician duly licensed by the Mississippi State Board of Health may perform an autopsy.

A duly licensed physician authorized to perform an autopsy as provided in this chapter, and who, in good faith, complies with the provisions of this chapter in the performance of an autopsy, shall not be liable for damages on account thereof.

A circuit judge, chancellor or county judge of the county or district where a person died or where the body of such deceased person may be or where the mortal stroke or other cause of death occurred, may, in his discretion, either in term time or in vacation, order an autopsy to …

Any physician removing or otherwise acquiring any tissue of the human body may, in his discretion, after making or causing to be made such scientific examination of the same as he may deem appropriate or as may be required by law, custom or rules and regulations of the hospital o…

Sections 41-39-101 through 41-39-149 may be cited as the Revised Mississippi Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA).

(1) In Sections 41-39-101 through 41-39-149:(1) “Adult” means an individual who is at least eighteen (18) years of age.(2) “Agent” means an individual:(A) Authorized to make health care decisions on the principal’s behalf by a power of attorney for health care; or(B) Expressly au…

Sections 41-39-101 through 41-39-149 apply to an anatomical gift or amendment to, revocation of, or refusal to make an anatomical gift, whenever made.

(1) Subject to Section 41-39-115, 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 Section 41-39-109 by:(1) The donor, if the donor is an adult or if…

(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 any…

(1) In respect to a gift of an eye as provided for in this chapter, a person licensed for the practice of funeral service under the provisions of Sections 73-11-41 et seq., who has successfully completed a course in eye enucleation and has received a certificate of competence fro…

(a) Subject to Section 41-39-115, a donor or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section 41-39-107 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), another individual acting …

(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), another individual acting at the direction of the individual if the individual is physically unable to sign;(2) …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (g) and subject to subsection (f), 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 donor’s body or part if the donor m…

(a) Subject to subsections (b) and (c) and unless barred by Section 41-39-113 or 41-39-115, 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 who is reasona…

(a) A person authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section 41-39-117 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…

(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, for research or education;(2) Subject to subsec…

(a) The following persons shall make a reasonable search of an individual who the person reasonably believes is dead or near death 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 enforcement office…

(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 refers an individual at or near death to a procurement organization, the organization shall make a reasonable search of the records of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and any donor registry that it knows exists for the geographical area in which th…

(1) As used in this section, the following words and phrases have the meanings ascribed in this subsection unless the context clearly requires otherwise:(a) “Organ procurement organization PEER review committee,” “PEER review committee” or “committee” means a committee of represe…

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

(1) For the purposes of this section, the term “infectious or communicable disease” means the following:(a) Infectious hepatitis;(b) Tuberculosis;(c) Any venereal disease;(d) Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); or(e) Any other disease designated by the State Board of Heal…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), a person that, for valuable consideration, knowingly purchases or sells a part for transplantation or therapy if removal of a part from an individual is intended to occur after the individual’s death commits a felony and upon co…