Chapter 16, Chapter 16

As used in this article: "Department" means the West Virginia Department of Health; "Rare disease" means any disease which affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States and is known to be substantially under-diagnosed and unrecognized as a result of lack of adequate diag…

The director shall formulate and put into effect throughout the state an educational program for the purpose of preventing cancer and of aiding in its early diagnosis, and for the purpose of giving information to hospitals and cancer patients concerning the proper treatment. In f…

(a) (1) A hospital shall provide a patient or the patient's legal guardian with an opportunity to designate one lay caregiver following the patient's admission into a hospital. (2) If the patient is unconscious or otherwise incapacitated upon admission to the hospital, the hospit…

(a) There is established in the state Bureau for Public Health a section of vital statistics which shall install, maintain and operate the only system of vital statistics throughout this state. (b) The section of vital statistics shall be provided with sufficient staff, suitable …

As used in this article, unless a federal law or regulation or the context clearly requires a different meaning: (a) "Accrued benefit" means on behalf of any member two and six-tenths percent per year of the member’s final average salary for the first 20 years of credited service…

The state long-term care ombudsman program shall receive such funds as are appropriated pursuant to the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended, for the operation of the state long-term care ombudsman program, and shall receive such funds as are appropriated by the Legislature fo…

(a) When a death occurring in this state has not been registered within the time period described by section nineteen of this article, a certificate of death may be filed subject to evidentiary documentation and other requirements as prescribed by legislative rule. (b) If the req…

(a) Any member with ten or more years of contributing service and who during covered employment: (1) Has been or becomes totally disabled from any cause other than those set forth in section nineteen of this article and not due to vicious habits, intemperance or willful misconduc…

Pursuant to chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, the state long-term care ombudsman and the state commission on aging shall promulgate rules to effectuate the purposes and provisions of this article.

(a) Each fetal death of three hundred fifty grams or more, and if weight is unknown, of twenty completed weeks of gestation or more, calculated from the date the last normal menstrual period began to the date of delivery, which occurs in this state, shall be reported within five …

(a) The board may require any member who has applied for or is receiving disability benefits under this article to submit to a physical examination, mental examination or both, by a physician or physicians selected or approved by the board. All costs incident to any examination b…

(a) This section of the code shall be known as "Noah's Law". (b) For the purposes of this section, the term "stillbirth" or "stillborn" means an unintended intrauterine fetal death occurring in this state. (c) Following a report of fetal death as required by section twenty-one of…

If any provision of this article, or the application thereof to any provision or circumstance, shall be held unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the provisions or application of this article which can be given effect with…

(a) Each abortion, as defined in §16-2R-2 of this code, which occurs in this state, shall be reported to the section of vital registration no later than the 10th day of the month following the month the procedure was performed by the person in charge of the hospital in which the …

(a) The funeral director or other person who assumes custody of a dead body shall obtain authorization prior to final disposition of the body. (1) The physician or State Medical Examiner, county medical examiner or designee shall authorize final disposition of the body on a form …

(a) The surviving spouse of any member who dies by reason of injury, illness or disease resulting from an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the service required of members, while the member was or is engaged in the performance of his or her duties as an emerg…

(a) The department shall, by legislative rule, provide for the extension of the time periods prescribed in sections nineteen, twenty-one, twenty-two and twenty-three of this article for the filing of certificates of death, reports of fetal death, reports of induced termination of…

(a) If a member who has been a contributing member for at least 10 years dies prior to retirement from any cause other than those specified in §16-5V-23 of this code and not due to vicious habits, intemperance or willful misconduct on his or her part, the fund shall pay annually …

(a) In order to protect the integrity and accuracy of vital records, a certificate or report registered under this article may be amended only in accordance with the provisions of this article or legislative rule. (b) A certificate or report that is amended under this section mus…

(a) In addition to the spouse death benefits in this article, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive and there shall be paid to the spouse $100 monthly for each dependent child. (b) If the surviving spouse dies or if there is no surviving spouse, the fund shall pay monthly t…

To preserve vital records and other original documents, the state Registrar is authorized to prepare typewritten, photographic, electronic, or other reproductions of certificates or reports and files in the section of vital statistics. When verified and approved by the state Regi…

Any member who dies as a result of any service related illness or injury after the effective date is entitled to a lump sum burial benefit of $5,000. If the member is married, the burial benefit shall be paid to the member's spouse. If the member is not married, the burial benefi…

In accordance with section twenty-six of this article and the legislative rules promulgated thereunder: (a) The department shall, by legislative rule, provide for the disclosure of confidential information contained in vital records and reports for statistical research purposes. …

A surviving spouse is not entitled to receive simultaneous death benefits under this article as a result of the death of two or more members to whom the spouse was married. Any spouse who becomes eligible for a subsequent death benefit under this article while receiving a death b…

In accordance with §16-5-27 of this code and the legislative rules promulgated thereunder: (a) The State Registrar and other custodians of vital records authorized to issue certified copies shall upon receipt of an application, issue a certified copy of a vital record in his or h…

The right of a person to any benefit provided for in this article shall not be subject to execution, attachment, garnishment, the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency laws, or other process whatsoever, nor shall any assignment thereof be enforceable in any court except that the …

(a) The commissioner shall prescribe the fees to be charged and collected by the State Registrar for certified copies of certificates or records, not to exceed $10 per copy, or for a search of the files or records when no copy is made: Provided, That the fee may be increased to a…

Any person who knowingly makes any false statement or who falsifies or permits to be falsified any record of the retirement system in any attempt to defraud that system is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed 1,000, by co…

(a) To the extent funds are available, the director of the division of health shall establish a cancer and tumor registry for the purpose of collecting information concerning the incidence of cancer and nonmalignant intracranial and central nervous system tumors. The information …

For the purpose of this article: (a) "Aging network" means the network of the Bureau of Senior Services, area agencies on aging, and local providers of direct services to older individuals; (b) "Bureau" refers to the Bureau of Senior Services; (c) "Commissioner" refers to the com…

"Bureau" means the Bureau of Senior Services. "Care management" means the planning, arrangement for and coordination of appropriate community-based, in-home services and alternative living arrangements for the frail elderly, disabled, or terminally ill. "Care services" means hous…

As used in this article, unless a different meaning appears from the context: (a) "Government agency" means any department, division, office, bureau, board, commission, council, authority, or any other agency or instrumentality created by the state or political subdivision thereo…

(a) The department is the administering agency for the development of a statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, interagency system of early intervention services. (b) Consistent with the provisions of Public Law 99-457, as enacted by the Congress of the United States, the departme…

The director of the department of health shall promulgate, pursuant to chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, rules required to implement this article, and such rules shall specifically address, among other things, training, education and experience requirements. The standards to be…

Except as expressly and specifically otherwise provided by law, and except as provided in section four of this article, all meetings of a governing body of a hospital shall be open to the public. Any governing body may make and enforce reasonable rules and regulations for attenda…

The advisory council shall exercise the following duties to the degree that resources are available, including, but not limited to: (1) Coordinate statewide efforts for the study of the incidence of rare disease within the state; (2) Act as the advisory board to the secretary and…

The director shall have authority to prescribe standard minimum requirements for the organization, equipment and conduct of cancer units or clinics in general hospitals of the state. The director shall establish and maintain, or aid in the establishment and maintenance of, a suff…

If a patient has designated a lay caregiver, a hospital shall notify the patient's designated lay caregiver of the patient's discharge to the patient's residence as soon as possible. If the hospital is unable to contact the designated lay caregiver, the lack of contact may not in…

(a) The Department of Health shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to provide for: (1) Adequate standards of security and confidentiality of vital records; (2) Requirements for individua…

Any term used in this article has the same meaning as when used in a comparable context in the laws of the United States, unless a different meaning is clearly required. Any reference in this article to the Internal Revenue Code means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended…

(a) The Office of Drug Control Policy shall implement a program in which a central repository is established and maintained that shall contain overdose information via an appropriate information technology platform with secure access for the purpose of making decisions regarding …

(a) Every person in charge of an institution as defined in this article shall keep a record of personal data concerning each person admitted or confined to the institution. The record must include information required for the certificates of birth and death and the reports of fet…

(a) Any member who has previously served on active military duty is entitled to receive additional years of service for the purpose of determining his or her years of credited service for a period equal to the active military duty not to exceed five years, subject to the followin…

(a) Any person or institution required under this article to collect and maintain information regarding any birth, death, fetal death, marriage, or divorce or annulment, shall furnish the information to the state Registrar upon request. (b) Any person or institution that in good …

Any county commission, or political subdivision, or county 911 public safety answering point employing emergency medical services officers or 911 personnel may by a three-fifths vote of its governing body, or by a majority vote of its electors, elect to become a participating pub…

To protect the integrity of vital records and to prevent the fraudulent use of certificates of birth of deceased persons, the state Registrar is authorized to match certificates of birth and death, in accordance with legislative rule which requires that the fact of death and the …

(a) The provisions of this article become effective January 1, 2008: Provided, That no payout of any benefits may be made to any person prior to January 1, 2011: Provided, however, That emergency medical services officers who retire due to a duty disability pursuant to this artic…

(a) A social security number obtained in the filing of a certificate of live birth, an application for a delayed registration of birth, a judicial order establishing a record of birth, an order of adoption, an affidavit of paternity or a judicial order establishing paternity, or …

No county which has timely met all of its obligations under this article is liable for any payments or contributions to the emergency medical services retirement plan which are owed to the plan by another county or counties.

(a) To encourage an efficient and uniform system of registration of marriage, divorce and annulment of marriage may be established in this state, the state Registrar shall provide for the registration of each marriage, divorce and annulment of marriage which occurs in this state.…