Title 44, Health

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.

A physician assistant (PA) may create, execute, and sign a POST form if authorized to do so by his or her scope of practice guidelines. The POST form must be for a patient of that PA, the PA's supervising physician, or both.

The department shall: (1) oversee the POST form and its future iterations; (2) display a printable sample of the POST form currently being used by the department on the department's or a designee's publicly accessible website, along with any related information the department cho…

(A) The POST form must be a uniform document based on the standards recommended by the National Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) paradigm and must include the information set forth in subsection (C). (B) A copy, facsimile, or electronic version of a complete…

(A) A POST form executed in South Carolina as provided in this chapter, or a similar form executed in another jurisdiction in compliance with the laws of that jurisdiction, must be deemed a valid expression of a patient's wishes as to health care. A South Carolina health care pro…

(A) A POST form may be revoked at any time by an oral or written statement by the patient or a patient's legal representative. (B) A revocation is only effective upon communication to the health care provider or health care facility by the patient or the patient's legal represent…

(A) Any individual acting in good faith as a legal representative who executes a POST form on behalf of an incapacitated patient in accordance with this chapter, the Adult Health Care Consent Act, and regulations promulgated pursuant to those statutes is not subject to criminal p…

This chapter may not be construed to condone, authorize, or approve suicide, physician-assisted suicide, or euthanasia, or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act or omission of an act to end life other than to permit the natural process of dying. Death resulting from the wit…

(A) The executing of a POST form does not in any manner affect the sale, procurement, or issuance of any policy of life insurance, nor shall it be deemed to modify the terms of an existing policy of life insurance. A policy of life insurance is not legally impaired or invalidated…

(A) The absence of a POST form does not give rise to a presumption concerning the intent of a patient with respect to the consent to or refusal of life-sustaining procedures. A health care provider or health care facility must be guided by the patient's stated wishes, or if unabl…

This act may be cited as the "Bill of Rights for Residents of Long-Term Care Facilities".

The General Assembly finds that persons residing within long-term care facilities are isolated from the community and often lack the means to assert their rights fully as individual citizens. The General Assembly recognizes the need for these persons to live within the least rest…

As used in this chapter: (1) "Long-term care facility" means an intermediate care facility, nursing care facility, or residential care facility subject to regulation and licensure by the State Department of Health and Environmental Control (department). (2) "Resident" means a per…

(A) Each resident or the resident's representative must be given by the facility a written and oral explanation of the rights, grievance procedures, and enforcement provisions of this chapter before or at the time of admission to a long-term care facility. Written acknowledgment …

Each resident must be offered treatment without discrimination as to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, or source of payment.

Each facility shall establish grievance procedures to be exercised by or on behalf of the resident to enforce the rights provided by this act. The department shall review and approve these grievance procedures annually. This act is enforced by the department. The department may p…

No facility by or through its owner, administrator, or operator, or any person subject to the supervision, direction, or control of the owner, administrator, or operator shall retaliate against a resident after the resident or the resident's legal representative has engaged in ex…

As used in this chapter: (1) "Asbestos abatement entity" means any individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation, sole proprietorship, or other business concern, as well as an employee or member of a governmental, religious, or social organization, that is involved in a…

(A) Asbestos abatement entities performing asbestos projects shall, before beginning work on a project, obtain an asbestos project license from the department. The license must be obtained for each project, and the fee for the license must be based on the square footage, linear f…

An asbestos abatement entity involved in an asbestos project other than a demolition shall obtain a license from the department. The department may prescribe license application forms and may require documentation to be attached to the application which is sufficient to verify th…

(A) The department may promulgate and enforce regulations to implement this chapter and to prescribe standards of performance for asbestos removal operations and criteria for obtaining the licenses required by this chapter. (B) The department by regulation may establish fees suff…

A person violating a provision of this chapter may be assessed a civil penalty by the department in an amount not exceeding ten thousand dollars for each violation.

This act may be cited as the "Birthing Center Licensure Act".

The department, in accordance with the laws of the State governing injunctions and other processes, may maintain an action in the name of the State against any person for establishing, conducting, managing, or operating any birthing center without obtaining a license as provided …

The purpose of this chapter is to promote the health and safety of women and newborns by providing for the licensing and regulation of birthing centers.

As used in this chapter: (1) "Birthing center" means a facility or other place where human births are planned to occur. This does not include the usual residence of the mother or any facility which is licensed as a hospital. (2) "Board" means the South Carolina Board of Health an…

No person may establish, conduct, or maintain a birthing center without first obtaining a license from the department. The license is effective for a twelve-month period following the date of issue. A license issued under this chapter is not assignable or transferable and is subj…

A fee of two hundred dollars is charged for each license. The fees must be used in the funding of this program.

The department shall require reports from, regulate, investigate, and inspect all birthing centers and records of these facilities as necessary and promulgate regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act to carry out the purposes of this chapter. The regulatio…

Information received by the department through inspection or as otherwise authorized must not be disclosed publicly in a manner as to identify individuals, facilities, or programs except in a proceeding involving the question of licensing or the revocation of a license or unless …

(A) The department upon proper notice and opportunity for hearing in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act and department regulations may deny, suspend, or revoke licenses or assess a monetary penalty on any of the following grounds: (1) failure to establish or mainta…

Any applicant or licensee who is aggrieved with a final decision of the department as a result of the hearing provided for by Section 44-85-80 may appeal to the appropriate court for judicial review pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act.

This chapter may be cited as the "South Carolina Infectious Waste Management Act".

All in-state generators that produce less than fifty pounds of infectious waste a month are exempt from the provisions of this chapter except they shall comply with: (1) the provisions of Section 44-93-90(A) of this chapter; and (2) the management of the following infectious wast…

It is unlawful for a person who owns or operates a waste treatment, storage, or disposal facility within this State to accept any infectious waste generated in a jurisdiction which prohibits by law the treatment, storage, or disposal of that infectious waste within that jurisdict…

Upon promulgation of regulations as specified in Section 44-93-30, no person may operate an infectious waste treatment or disposal facility or generator facility without first obtaining a permit as required by department regulations.

No person may expand or construct a new facility without a permit issued by the department. To obtain a permit, the applicant shall demonstrate the need for a facility or expansion. To determine if there is a need, infectious waste generated out-of-state may not be considered wit…

(A) The director may refuse to issue or renew a registration to transport infectious waste or a permit to operate a facility if he finds that within five years of the application for a registration or permit, the applicant has been: (1) convicted of a crime involving moral turpit…

Following the promulgation of the regulations required pursuant to Section 44-93-30, it is unlawful for a person to fail to comply with this chapter or with a procedure or requirement set forth in the regulations.

(A) Whenever the department finds that a person is in violation of a permit, regulation, standard, or requirement under this chapter, the department may issue an order requiring the person to comply with the permit, regulation, standard, or requirement or the department may bring…

(A) There is a fee on the treatment of infectious waste in this State equal to thirty dollars a ton for the first one thousand five hundred tons in a month and eight dollars a ton in excess of one thousand five hundred tons a month on the pretreatment weight of infectious waste t…

The department shall establish an Infectious Waste Program Fund to ensure the availability of funds to carry out the department's responsibilities under this chapter. This fund must be financed by the fees imposed pursuant to Section 44-93-160. From the revenue derived from the f…

The department shall establish an Infectious Waste Contingency Fund to ensure the availability of funds for response actions necessary at permitted infectious waste treatment facilities and necessary from accidents in the transportation of infectious waste and to defray the cost …

The department shall assign as may be necessary a health inspector to serve at a commercial infectious waste treatment facility located in South Carolina for the purpose of assuring the protection of the health and safety of the public by monitoring the receipt, handling, treatme…

This chapter does not apply to the treatment or disposal of hazardous waste regulated under the South Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Act.