Title 34, PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY

The provisions of this chapter do not apply to radioactive materials used in the provision of diagnostic and therapeutic services to humans, biomedical research radioactive materials used in South Dakota higher education institutions for instructional and research activities that…

Terms used in this chapter mean: (1) "Carrier," a person who harbors a specific infectious agent in the absence of discernible clinical disease and serves as a potential source or reservoir of infection for other persons; (2) "Communicable disease," includes: (a) An illness due t…

If necessary the Department of Health may establish and enforce a system of quarantine against the introduction into the state of any communicable disease by a common carrier doing business across the state's borders. Any member, officer, or agent of the department may board any …

The State Department of Health shall have the power and authority, and it shall be the duty of such department, to provide laboratory and radiological services necessary for the maintenance of a control and eradication program for tuberculosis and communicable diseases. Source: S…

The department may provide facilities and personnel which will encourage participation in prescribed screening of the general population and high-risk segments of the general population through testing for communicable diseases. Source: SL 1963, ch 380 , § 5 (5); SL 2015, ch 181 …

Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 36-4 and chapter 36-9 , any person performing specific health services under federal, state, and local programs affecting the public health, shall carry out such services through medically accepted procedures approved by the State Board o…

The term, specific health services, as it relates to § 34-22-11.1 shall include the following: (1) Application of intradermal skin tests for the purpose of determining the presence of tuberculosis; (2) Venipuncture for the purpose of drawing blood for laboratory examinations to d…

The State Department of Health shall provide for the collection and processing of mandatory reports of identifiable and suspected cases of communicable disease, communicable disease carriers, and laboratory tests for communicable disease carriers, from all physicians, hospitals, …

Any report required to be submitted pursuant to § 34-22-12 is strictly confidential medical information. No report may be released, shared with any agency or institution, or made public, upon subpoena, search warrant, discovery proceedings, or otherwise. No report is admissible a…

Except as provided in § 34-22-12.1 , any person responsible for recording, reporting, or maintaining medical reports required to be submitted pursuant to § 34-22-12 who knowingly or intentionally discloses or fails to protect medical reports declared to be confidential under § 34…

Good faith reporting or disclosure pursuant to § 34-22-12 does not constitute a libel or slander or a violation of the right of privacy or privileged communication. Source: SL 1989, ch 296 , § 3.

Any person who in good faith complies with the reporting requirements of § 34-22-12 is immune from civil and criminal liability for such action taken in compliance with the provisions of § 34-22-12 . Compliance by a person or facility with the reporting requirements of § 34-22-12…

A patient's immunization record shall be shared among health care providers, health care facilities, federal or state health agencies, child welfare agencies, schools, or family day care facilities, without the consent of the patient or the person acting on the patient's behalf u…

The department has the authority to consult with physicians, hospitals, institutions, and individuals engaged in diagnosing and treating any person diagnosed with or reasonably suspected of being exposed to a communicable disease. Source: SL 1963, ch 380 , § 5 (7); SL 2015, ch 18…

The department has the authority to provide for the enforcement of regulations for the control and eradication of communicable diseases through isolation, prevention, and treatment. Source: SL 1963, ch 380 , § 5 (4); SL 2015, ch 181 , § 11. 34-22-15

The diagnosis, control, and treatment of suspected or confirmed cases of communicable diseases in the state shall be under the supervision and surveillance of the department. The program of diagnosis, control, and treatment of communicable diseases, established in this chapter an…

Any person in the state reasonably suspected of having active tuberculosis, middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), smallpox, or viral hemorrhagic fevers, or any disease or condition which is the subject of a declared public health emerg…

If the department has determined by medical or epidemiological information that a person is confirmed to be infected with an active tuberculosis, any middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), smallpox, or viral hemorrhagic fevers, or any d…

No provision of this chapter may be deemed to bar freedom of any person to seek diagnosis or treatment, or both, by a physician or in an institution of the person's choice, at the person's own expense, or under entitlement by the federal government, medical or hospital insurance …

The secretary of health or his authorized agent shall from time to time at his discretion be authorized to inspect any or all records of any facility as is deemed necessary to determine compliance with the provisions of § 34-22-25 . Source: SL 1968, ch 119 , § 1. 34-22-24

Any health officer or physician who has information that any person, including a patient, is by the person's conduct or mode of living, endangering the health or well-being of the person's family or other persons because of communicable diseases, shall report the information to t…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to interfere with the recognized religious rights or practice of any individual who is exercising such rights or practice in good faith. Source: SL 1968, ch 119 , § 5; SL 1977, ch 190 , § 60A. 34-22-40

For the purposes of §§ 34-3-26 , 34-16-22 to 34-16-25 , inclusive, and 34-22-41 to 34-22-44 , inclusive, a public health emergency is an occurrence or imminent threat of an illness, health condition, or widespread exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a significant …

The secretary of health, with the consent of the Governor, may declare a public health emergency as defined by § 34-22-41 . In declaring a public health emergency, the secretary shall issue an order that specifies: (1) The nature of the public health emergency; (2) The geographic…

The department shall have primary jurisdiction, responsibility, and authority for responding to a public health emergency declared pursuant to § 34-22-42 including: (1) Planning and executing public health emergency assessment, mitigation, preparedness, and response; (2) Coordina…

Any public health emergency declared pursuant to § 34-22-42 shall be terminated automatically after thirty days unless renewed by the secretary under the same standards and procedures set forth in § 34-22-42 . Source: SL 2002, ch 168 , § 4.

Terms used in § 34-22-44.2 mean: (1) "Statewide Emergency Registry of Volunteers for South Dakota (SERV SD)," the state's version of the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Health Professions Volunteers authorized by Public Law 107-188, known as the Public Health Securit…

Any volunteer, as defined in § 34-22-44.1 , is immune from civil liability in any action brought in any court in this state on the basis of any act or omission resulting in damage or injury if: (1) The volunteer was acting in good faith and within the scope of the volunteer's off…

The Department of Health shall offer a vaccination program for first responders who may be exposed to infectious diseases when deployed to disaster locations. For purposes of this section, the term, first responder, means state and local law enforcement personnel, fire department…

Each person who intentionally exposes himself or herself or another person infected with any communicable disease in any public place, except in the person's necessary removal from a public place in a manner not dangerous to the public health, is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. …

It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for any board, physician, or person to compel another by the use of physical force to submit to the operation of vaccination with smallpox or other virus. Source: SL 1903, ch 223 , §§ 1, 3; RC 1919, §§ 7691, 7693; SDC 1939, §§ 27.2201, 27.9938; SL 1977…

The department shall establish and direct the operations of a state-wide system for communicable disease prevention, control, and treatment. The department may promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26 , to: (1) Conduct communicable disease surveillance which includes detection,…

Syphilis, gonorrhea, and chancroid are designated to be venereal diseases and are contagious, infectious, communicable, and dangerous to the public health. Any person infected with a venereal disease under this section who intentionally exposes another person to infection of that…

Every person other than a physician permitted by law to attend upon pregnant women in the state but not permitted by law to take blood tests, shall cause a sample of the blood of such pregnant woman to be taken by a duly licensed physician and submitted for standard serological t…

In reporting every birth and stillbirth, physicians and others permitted to attend pregnancy cases and required to report births and stillbirths shall state on the birth certificate or fetal death certificate, as the case may be, whether a blood test for syphilis has been made du…

The State Department of Health is hereby empowered and directed to make, in compliance with chapter 1-26 , such rules and regulations as shall in its judgment be necessary for the carrying out of the provisions of this chapter, including rules and regulations provided for the con…

Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter or any lawful rule or regulation made by the Department of Health pursuant to the authority therein granted, or who shall fail or refuse to obey any lawful order issued by any state, county, or municipal health officer…

As used in §§ 34-23-16 to 34-23-18 , inclusive, "physician" or "licensed physician" shall mean physicians licensed under chapter 36-4 . Source: SL 1971, ch 210 , § 2.

Any licensed physician, upon consultation by any minor as a patient, may, with the consent of such person who is hereby granted the right of giving such consent, make a diagnostic examination for venereal disease and prescribe for and treat such person for venereal disease includ…

Treatment of a minor for venereal disease by a county health department, State Health Department, or doctors attached to such departments shall be offered to a minor, if available, upon the minor's request and without the necessity of consent of parents or notification to the par…

In any such case arising under the provisions of §§ 34-23-16 and 34-23-17 the hospital, public clinic, or licensed physician who provides the care or services or who performs medical or surgical care or services shall incur no civil or criminal liability by reason of having made …

Any physician or other person who makes a diagnosis in or treats a case of venereal disease and any superintendent or manager of a hospital, dispensary, or charitable or penal institution in which there is a case of venereal disease shall make a report of such case to the health …

It shall be the duty of all local and state health officers to investigate sources of infection of venereal disease, to cooperate with the proper officials whose duty it is to enforce laws directed against prostitution, and otherwise to use every proper means for the repression o…

State, county, and municipal health officers or their authorized deputies within their respective jurisdiction are hereby directed and empowered to require persons infected with venereal disease to report for treatment to a reputable physician and continue treatment until cured o…

Any person convicted of being a prostitute or inmate of a disorderly house who may be found to be infected with venereal disease in a stage which, in the opinion of the health officer, is or is apt to become communicable, shall be quarantined or isolated so long as such person is…

All persons who shall be imprisoned or confined in any state, county, or city prison in the state shall be examined for and, if infected, treated for venereal diseases by the health authorities or their deputies. Source: SL 1919, ch 284 , § 4; SDC 1939, § 27.2404.