GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1993 SESSION
CHAPTER 715
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 130A-5(2) reads as rewritten:
"(2) To investigate the
causes of epidemics and of infectious, communicable and other diseases
affecting the public health in order to control and prevent these diseases; to
provide, under the rules of the Commission, for the prevention, detection,
reporting and control of communicable, infectious or any other diseases or
health hazards considered harmful to the public health health; to
obtain, notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 8-53, a copy or a summary of
pertinent portions of privileged patient medical records deemed necessary by
joint agreement of the attending physician and a Department physician for
investigating a disease or health hazard that may present a clear danger to the
public health. Records shall be identified as necessary by joint agreement
of a Department physician and the patient's attending physician. However,
if the Department is unable to contact the attending physician after reasonable
attempts to do so, or if the Department determines that contacting all
attending physicians of patients involved in an investigation would be
impractical or would unreasonably delay the inquiry and thereby endanger the
public health, the records shall be identified as necessary by joint agreement
of a Department physician and the health care facility's chief of staff.
For a facility with no chief of staff, the facility's chief administrator may
consent to the Department's review of the records. Any physician person,
authorized to have or handle such records, providing copies or summaries of
privileged patient medical records pursuant to this subdivision shall be immune
from civil or criminal liability that might otherwise be incurred or imposed
based upon invasion of privacy or breach of physician-patient confidentiality
arising out of the furnishing of or agreement to furnish such records;".
Sec. 2. This act is effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 7th day of July, 1994.
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Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate
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Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives