Title 44, Health

For purposes of this chapter: (1) "Automated external defibrillator" or "AED" means an automated external defibrillator which is a medical device heart monitor and defibrillator that: (a) has received approval of its pre-market notification filed pursuant to the United States Cod…

A person or entity that acquires an AED shall: (1) require its designated AED users to have current training in CPR and AED use by the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, American Safety and Health Institute, or National Safety Council, or training from a program that…

(1) Any person or entity acting in good faith and gratuitously shall be immune from civil liability for the application of an AED unless the person was grossly negligent in the application. (2) Any designated AED users meeting the requirements of Section 44-76-30(1) and acting ac…

The provisions of this chapter do not apply to emergency medical services, a physician's office, or a health care facility as defined in Section 44-7-130(10).

This chapter may be cited as the Death With Dignity Act.

A physician or health care facility electing for any reason not to participate in the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures in accordance with a declaration executed under this chapter shall make a reasonable effort to locate a physician or health care facility …

The execution and consummation of declarations made in accordance with Sections 44-77-40 and 44-77-50 do not constitute suicide for any purpose.

No person may be required to sign a declaration in accordance with Sections 44-77-40 and 44-77-50 as a condition for becoming insured under any insurance contract or for receiving any medical treatment or as a condition of being admitted to a hospital or nursing home facility.

Nothing in this chapter may be construed to authorize or approve mercy killing, or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act or omission to end life other than to permit the natural process of dying.

The absence of a declaration by an adult patient does not give rise to a presumption as to his intent to consent to or refuse life-sustaining procedures. This chapter applies only to persons who have executed a declaration in accordance with this chapter. Nothing in this chapter …

(A) If any person coerces or fraudulently induces another person to execute a declaration under this chapter, falsifies or forges a declaration, or wilfully conceals, cancels, obliterates, or destroys a revocation of a declaration, and the declarant dies as a result of the withdr…

As used in this chapter: (1) "Declarant" means a person who has signed a declaration in accordance with Sections 44-77-40 and 44-77-50, in accordance with earlier, current, or future versions of this chapter, or in accordance with the law of another state if the declaration provi…

If a person eighteen years of age or older adopts a declaration that is substantially in the form provided in Section 44-77-50, whether executed before or after an amendment is made to the form, and that on its face is duly executed, witnessed, and authenticated as provided in Se…

A declaration is valid: (1) which expresses substantially in the form set forth in Section 44-77-50 a desire of the declarant that no life-sustaining procedures be used to prolong dying if his condition is terminal or if he is permanently unconscious and states that the declarant…

The declaration must be substantially in the following form with the procedure and requirements for revocation of the declaration appearing either in boldface print or in all upper case letters, the characters in either case being of at least the same size as used in the rest of …

A declarant whose declaration is executed in accordance with earlier versions of this chapter or in accordance with the law of another state may supplement that declaration by executing a document containing the provisions for "Instructions Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hyd…

If a declarant has been diagnosed as pregnant, the Declaration is not effective during the course of the declarant's pregnancy.

The Declaration may be revoked: (1) by being defaced, torn, obliterated, or otherwise destroyed in expression of the declarant's intent to revoke by the declarant or by some person in the presence of and by the direction of the declarant. Revocation by destruction of one or more …

The declarant may indicate in the declaration whether he wants to appoint an agent to act on his behalf in assuring that the declaration is given effect by petitioning the court of common pleas for an order directing providers to withhold or withdraw treatment as provided in the …

After certification of a terminal condition or a state of permanent unconsciousness, any person who relies on a declaration which on its face appears to have been executed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, of which he has no actual notice of revocation, and who w…

This chapter may be cited as the Emergency Medical Services Do Not Resuscitate Order Act.

As used in this chapter: (1) "Do not resuscitate bracelet" or "bracelet" means a standardized identification bracelet that: (a) meets the specifications established under Section 44-78-30(B) or that is approved by the department under Section 44-78-30(B); (b) bears the inscriptio…

(A) Except as prohibited in subsections (C) and (D), a patient who has a terminal condition, a surrogate for a patient with a terminal condition under the Adult Health Care Consent Act, an agent of a patient with a terminal condition named by the patient in a Health Care Power of…

When called to render emergency medical services, EMS personnel must not use any resuscitative treatment if the patient has a "do not resuscitate order for emergency services" and the document is presented to the EMS personnel upon their arrival or if the patient is wearing a do …

(A) A document purporting to be a "do not resuscitate order" for EMS purposes must be in substantially the following form: NOTICE TO EMS PERSONNEL This notice is to inform all emergency medical personnel who may be called to render assistance to _________________ that he/she has …

No health care provider or EMS personnel is liable for damages, may be the subject of disciplinary proceedings, or may be subject to civil or criminal liability due to: (1) issuing a "do not resuscitate order for emergency medical services" or a "do not resuscitate bracelet"; (2)…

In the absence of a "do not resuscitate order for emergency medical services" or a "do not resuscitate" bracelet, EMS personnel shall give full resuscitative measures as are medically indicated in all cases.

(A) A health care provider and an EMS personnel shall follow the request of the patient or, if the patient is a child, the parent or legal guardian with the legal authority to make medical decisions for the child and must not provide resuscitative measures when the patient has a …

(A) Nothing in this chapter may be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or euthanasia or to permit any affirmative action or deliberate act to end life other than to allow the natural process of dying. (B) No child may request a "do not resuscitate order for …

A patient or, if the patient is a child, a parent or legal guardian with the legal authority to make medical decisions for the child, may revoke a "do not resuscitate order for emergency services" by: (1) mutilating, obliterating, or destroying the "do not resuscitate order for e…

The South Carolina Department of Public Health shall promulgate regulations necessary to provide direction to emergency personnel in identifying patients who have a "do not resuscitate order for emergency services."

This chapter may be cited as the Physical Fitness Services Act.

(1) No center shall advertise physical fitness services which are not operating or available without clearly and conspicuously disclosing in the advertisement that such are not presently operating or available. (2) No center shall advertise physical fitness services which are not…

The State of South Carolina and its political subdivisions and any not-for-profit corporations are exempt from the terms of this chapter.

Any person who violates any provision of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction must be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or be imprisoned for no more than three years, or both. A violation of any provision of this c…

As used in this chapter: (1) "Physical fitness services" means facilities or services for the development of physical fitness through exercise or weight control. The term includes the facilities and services of health or exercise centers, clubs, studios, or classes; health spas; …

(A) Every prepaid or credit contract for physical fitness services of over three months' duration or over two hundred dollars in amount must conform to the following requirements: (1) the contract must be in writing, and a copy must be given to the customer at the time he signs i…

No contract for physical fitness services may: (1) have a duration of longer than twenty-four months, nor a duration measured by the life of the customer, the life of the center, or any similar indefinite term; provided, however, if a center demonstrates financial responsibility …

Any provision of any contract for physical fitness services which does not comply with this chapter is unenforceable against the member.

A contract for physical fitness services may contain clauses which: (1) provide for extension of the term of the agreement for a period equal to a period of temporary disability or pregnancy of the customer, or for any other just or reasonable cause; (2) specify that the written …

Any right of action or defense which the member may raise based on the contract for physical fitness services is preserved against any assignee or successor to the contract.

(1) Every center which enters into prepaid or credit contracts for physical fitness services of over three months' duration or over two hundred dollars in amount shall maintain with the administrator a surety bond in a sum to be determined by the administrator based on the estima…

The administrator shall administer this chapter and may promulgate regulations, subject to the Administrative Procedures Act, necessary to carry out its provisions.

As used in this chapter: (1) "Advance care planning" or "ACP" means the making of decisions by a person about the care the person wants to receive if the person becomes unable to communicate or consent to care and the documentation of those decisions by acceptable methods recogni…

A POST form executed pursuant to this chapter remains effective until revoked or until a new POST form is executed pursuant to this chapter. Any physician who is responsible for the creation and execution of a POST form shall make reasonable efforts to periodically review and upd…

An advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) may create, execute, and sign a POST form if authorized to do so by his or her practice agreement. The POST form must be for a patient of the APRN, the physician with whom the APRN has entered into a practice agreement, or both.