Title 44, Health

(A) A child born in this State, except a child born of a parent who objects on religious grounds and indicates this objection before testing on a form promulgated in regulation by the Department of Public Health, shall have neonatal testing to detect inborn metabolic errors and h…

(A) Neonatal testing conducted pursuant to Section 44-37-30 must include testing for the following: (1) Krabbe disease; (2) Pompe disease; and (3) Hurler syndrome. (B) The department shall require additional lysosomal storage disorders to be tested upon the recommendations of the…

(A) This section may be cited as the "Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Act". (B) For purposes of this section: (1) "Advisory council" means the Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Advisory Council. (2) "Audiologist" means an individual licensed to pract…

(A) Every hospital in this State must make available to the parents of each newborn baby delivered in the hospital a video presentation on safe sleep practices, the causes of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Syndrome, and the dangers associated with shaking infants and young childr…

(A) During the postpartum period and prior to discharge each hospital shall provide parents of newborns educational information on pertussis disease and the availability of a vaccine to protect against pertussis. This educational information must include, but is not limited to, i…

Every hospital and birth center in this State shall provide the parents of each newborn baby who is at high risk for sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait delivered in the hospital or birth center, educational information on sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait and associ…

(A) The Department of Public Health shall require each birthing facility licensed by the department to perform on every newborn in its care a pulse oximetry or other department-approved screening to detect critical congenital heart defects when the baby is twenty-four to forty-ei…

There is created the South Carolina Head and Spinal Cord Injury Information System to provide a central information surveillance system and registry for head and spinal cord injuries.

As used in this article: (1) "Council" means the South Carolina Head and Spinal Cord Injury Information System Council established pursuant to this article. (2) "Head injury" means an insult to the skull or brain, not of a degenerative or congenital nature, but one caused by an e…

(A) There is the South Carolina Head and Spinal Cord Injury Information System Council established for the purpose of overseeing the daily activities of the system which shall be under the Head and Spinal Cord Injury Division of the Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabi…

There is established within the Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities the South Carolina Head and Spinal Cord Injury Service Delivery System. The system shall operate as a division of the office to be known as the Head and Spinal Cord Injury Division. The office m…

As used in this article: (1) "System" means the South Carolina Head and Spinal Cord Injury Service Delivery System as established in this article; (2) "State plan" means the plan developed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities pursuant to this arti…

The primary functions of the system are planning, intake and referral, case management, and education and prevention. The Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities is responsible for these functions.

The Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities shall: (1) develop a state plan for a comprehensive system of services for persons with head and spinal cord injuries, including short-term and long-term goals and objectives for implementing the plan; (2) receive surveill…

A person is eligible for case management services under this article when at the time of determining eligibility the person has a severe chronic limitation that: (1) is attributed to a physical impairment, including head injury, spinal cord injury, or both, or a similar disabilit…

(A) There is created an Advisory Council to the South Carolina Head and Spinal Cord Service Delivery System composed of: (1) the following members or a designee, who shall serve ex officio: (a) Chairperson for the Joint Legislative Committee for the Disabled; (b) Office Director …

Nothing contained in this article may be construed to establish or authorize creation of an entitlement program or benefit.

In carrying out the purposes of this article the council shall: (1) determine and implement the most cost effective method: (a) to collect, record, analyze, and disseminate data on the incidence and causes of head and spinal cord injuries; (b) to gather such other data as needed …

The council shall develop: (1) reporting forms and procedures for reporting the information required by this article; (2) a system to provide follow up to individuals entered in the registry; (3) procedures for gathering information from other states in which a South Carolina res…

(A) The South Carolina Spinal Cord Injury Research Board is created for the purpose of administering the spinal cord injury research fund created pursuant to Section 14-1-211. The board is composed of seven members who must be residents of this State and appointed by the Governor…

(A) All reports and records made pursuant to this article and maintained by the system, any agency, hospital, institution, other facility, or person pursuant to this article are confidential and may not be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act. Information must not be re…

There is created the South Carolina Brain Injury Leadership Council, within the Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, to provide statewide coordination in promoting support services to persons with brain injuries, their families, and caregivers, and to identify e…

The South Carolina Brain Injury Leadership Council shall: (1) advise and make recommendations to the State on ways to improve services coordination regarding traumatic brain injury; (2) encourage citizen participation through the establishment of public hearings and other types o…

(A) The members of the South Carolina Brain Injury Leadership Council should have knowledge or expertise in the area of brain injury or related services. The council shall be comprised of representatives of the following agencies and organizations, shall be appointed by the direc…

The South Carolina Brain Injury Leadership Council shall have the authority to apply for grants for the purposes of carrying out the responsibilities and duties of the council.

The council shall submit an annual report to the Joint Committee to Study Problems of Persons with Disabilities including, but not limited to, the incidence and status of head and spinal cord injuries in South Carolina, the administration of the system and recommendations for mod…

No person, medical facility, or other organization providing or releasing information in accordance with this article may be held liable in a civil or criminal action for divulging confidential information unless the individual or organization acted in bad faith or with malicious…

A person subject to this article who intentionally fails to comply with reporting or confidentiality and disclosure requirements of this article is subject to a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars for a violation the first time a person fails to comply and not more…

This chapter may be cited as the "Diabetes Initiative of South Carolina Act".

(A) There is established within the Medical University of South Carolina the Diabetes Initiative of South Carolina Board. The purpose of this board is to establish a statewide program of education, surveillance, clinical research, and translation of new diabetes treatment methods…

The powers and duties of the Diabetes Initiative of South Carolina Board are to: (1) annually assess the effects of diabetes mellitus in South Carolina, and the status of education, clinical research, and translation of new diabetes treatment methods in South Carolina; (2) overse…

(A) A Diabetes Center of Excellence is established at the Medical University of South Carolina. The center shall develop and implement programs of professional education, specialized care, and clinical research in diabetes and its complications, in accordance with priorities esta…

(A) There is created in the Medical University of South Carolina the Diabetes Outreach Council with three members appointed by the president of the university. (B) The Diabetes Outreach Council shall oversee and direct efforts in patient education and primary care including: (1) …

This chapter may be cited as the "South Carolina Agent Orange Information and Assistance Act".

As used in this chapter: (1) "Agent Orange" means the herbicide composed primarily of trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4, 5 T) and dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4 D) and its contaminant tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (2, 3, 7, 8 dioxin, TCDD). (2) "Chemical agent" means dioxin or…

There is created the South Carolina Agent Orange Advisory Council to assist and advise the South Carolina Department of Public Health in its duties and functions as provided in this chapter and to assist and advise the Veterans' Affairs Department of the Governor's Office in its …

With the advice of council, the program shall: (1) seek out, study, evaluate, and provide information regarding epidemiological, genetic, and other studies, investigations, and research that pertain to use of chemical agents, including Agent Orange, and adverse health conditions …

(A) At the request of a veteran, or his next of kin if the veteran is deceased, who believes that he may have been exposed to chemical agents, including Agent Orange, while serving in the armed forces of the United States, any physician or other health care provider who has the p…

With the cooperation of the Department of Public Health and the Department of Veterans' Affairs, the council: (1) shall make an annual report to the General Assembly containing: (a) a comprehensive review and summary analysis of the scientific literature on the effects of exposur…

As used in this chapter: (a) "Abortion" means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those means w…

(A) Consent is required before the performance of an abortion from the pregnant woman in every case and in the case of a minor, it must be obtained pursuant to the provisions of Section 44-41-31. (B) In the case of a woman who is under adjudication of mental incompetency by a cou…

(A) No person may perform an abortion upon a minor unless consent is obtained in accordance with one of the following provisions: (1) the attending physician or his agent or the referring physician or his agent has secured the informed written consent, signed and witnessed, of th…

This article may be cited as the "Woman's Right to Know Act".

Every minor has the right to petition the court for an order granting her the right to obtain an abortion without the consent required in Section 44-41-31(1). In seeking this relief the following procedures apply: (1) The minor may prepare and file a petition in either the circui…

As used in this article: (1) "Medical emergency" means that condition which, on the basis of the physician's good faith judgment, so complicates a pregnancy as to necessitate an immediate abortion to avert the risk of her death or for which a delay will create serious risk of sub…

(A) The court shall enter a written order stating findings of fact and conclusions of law in support of its decision to: (1) grant the minor the right on her own behalf to consent to the abortion if the court finds that the minor is mature and well-informed enough to make the abo…