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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ADOPTED AND AMENDED
February 8, 2012
H. 3750
S. Printed 2/8/12--S.
Read the first time May 12, 2011.
TO AMEND SECTION 17-5-530, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO A CORONER'S DUTIES WHEN A PERSON DIES, INCLUDING WHERE AN AUTOPSY MUST BE PERFORMED IF A PERSON DIES IN A HEALTH CARE FACILITY WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF ENTERING THE FACILITY OR WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF UNDERGOING AN INVASIVE SURGICAL PROCEDURE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT UNLESS THE CORONER CERTIFIES THAT THERE IS NO REASONABLE ALTERNATIVE, THE AUTOPSY MUST NOT BE PERFORMED AT THE HEALTH CARE FACILITY WHERE THE DEATH OCCURRED OR BY A PHYSICIAN WHO TREATED THE PATIENT OR WHO WAS EMPLOYED BY THE HEALTH CARE FACILITY WHERE THE DEATH OCCURRED.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 17-5-530(E) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 226 of 2010, is further amended to read:
"(E) If the coroner or medical examiner orders an autopsy upon review of a death pursuant to item (8) of sSubsection (A), the autopsy must not be performed:
(1) at the health care facility where the death occurred; or
(2) by a physician who treated the patient; or
(3) by a physician who is employed by the health care facility in which the death occurred;
unless the coroner or medical examiner certifies that no reasonable alternative exists."
SECTION 2. Section 43-35-520 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 43-35-520. The Vulnerable Adults Investigations Unit of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, created pursuant to Section 23-3-810, shall, in addition to its investigation responsibilities under that section or Article 1, investigate cases of vulnerable adult fatalities in facilities operated or contracted for operation by the Department of Mental Health or the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs. Provided, that in a nursing home, as defined in Section 44-7-130, contracted for operation by the Department of Mental Health, the Vulnerable Adults Investigations Unit shall investigate those fatalities for which there is suspicion that the vulnerable adult died as a result of abuse or neglect, the death is suspicious in nature, or the death is referred by a coroner or medical examiner as provided in Section 43-35-35(A). In the event that a coroner rules that the death of an individual in a veterans nursing home under the authority of the Department of Mental Health results from natural causes, the State Law Enforcement Division is not required to conduct an investigation regarding the individual's death."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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