South Dakota Codified Laws 34-22-12.1. Confidentiality of reports–Exceptions
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 as evidence in any action of any kind in any court or before any tribunal, board, agency, or person. However, the Department of Health may release medical or epidemiological information under any of the following circumstances:
(1) For statistical purposes in such a manner that no person can be identified;
Terms Used In South Dakota Codified Laws 34-22-12.1
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Person: includes natural persons, partnerships, associations, cooperative corporations, limited liability companies, and corporations. See South Dakota Codified Laws 2-14-2
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- written: include typewriting and typewritten, printing and printed, except in the case of signatures, and where the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See South Dakota Codified Laws 2-14-2
(2) With the written consent of the person identified in the information released;
(3) To the extent necessary to enforce the provisions of this chapter and rules promulgated pursuant to this chapter concerning the prevention, treatment, control, and investigation of communicable diseases;
(4) To the extent necessary to protect the health or life of a named person;
(5) To the extent necessary to comply with a proper judicial order requiring release of human immunodeficiency virus test results and related information to a prosecutor for an investigation of a violation of § 22-18-31; and
(6) To the attorney general or an appropriate state’s attorney if the secretary of the Department of Health has reasonable cause to suspect that a person violated § 22-18-31.
Source: SL 1989, ch 296, § 1; SL 2003, ch 184, § 1.