S 1295 Session 111 (1995-1996)
S 1295 General Bill, By Wilson, Giese and Moore
Similar(H 4649)
A Bill to amend Title 44, Chapter 35, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976,
relating to cancer, to enact the Central Cancer Registry Act, so as to create
the South Carolina Central Cancer Registry and to provide for its purpose,
reporting requirements, and confidentiality; to authorize the Department of
Health and Environmental Control to provide aid to any cancer patient rather
than to indigent patients; and to establish the Cancer Control Advisory
Committee and provide for its powers and duties.
03/26/96 Senate Introduced, read first time, placed on calendar
without reference SJ-24
03/27/96 Senate Read second time SJ-23
03/28/96 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-11
04/02/96 House Introduced and read first time HJ-6
04/02/96 House Referred to Committee on Medical, Military,
Public and Municipal Affairs HJ-6
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
INTRODUCED
March 26, 1996
S. 1295
Introduced by SENATORS Wilson, Moore and
Giese
S. Printed 3/26/96--S.
Read the first time March 26, 1996.
A BILL
TO AMEND TITLE 44, CHAPTER 35, CODE OF LAWS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO CANCER, TO
ENACT THE CENTRAL CANCER REGISTRY ACT, SO AS TO
CREATE THE SOUTH CAROLINA CENTRAL CANCER
REGISTRY AND TO PROVIDE FOR ITS PURPOSE,
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS, AND CONFIDENTIALITY; TO
AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL TO PROVIDE AID TO ANY
CANCER PATIENT RATHER THAN TO INDIGENT PATIENTS;
AND TO ESTABLISH THE CANCER CONTROL ADVISORY
COMMITTEE AND PROVIDE FOR ITS POWERS AND
DUTIES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the "Central Cancer
Registry Act".
SECTION 2. Title 44, Chapter 35 of the 1976 Code is amended
to read:
"CHAPTER 35
Cancer
Section 44-35-5. Sections 44-35-10 through 44-35-120 may
be cited as the Central Cancer Registry.
Section 44-35-10. The Department of Health and Environmental
Control, in conjunction with hospitals and entities throughout
the State, shall formulate a plan for the care and treatment
of indigent persons suffering from cancer and shall establish and
designate standard requirements for the organization, equipment and
conduct of cancer units or departments in general hospitals of this
State. The Department shall consult with physicians and with such
other experts or nonexperts wherever located as it may deem proper
with a view to carrying out the purposes of this chapter and with a
view to establishing a minimum standard for the conduct and
equipment of cancer units or departments in general hospitals in
such parts or districts of the State as may, in the opinion of the
Department, be deemed most advantageous to the public health
cancer prevention, detection, and surveillance programs and for
care of persons suffering from cancer to meet standards of care set
forth by nationally recognized and approved accrediting bodies.
Section 44-35-20. To provide adequate means of
examination, care and treatment of persons suffering with cancer in
this State and who are not financially able to provide the same for
themselves and in order that this State may participate in the
nation-wide effort to determine the cause and develop more
efficient methods of treatment and control of cancer and provide its
citizens with the benefit thereof and to coordinate these activities
with similar activities of other states and the national government,
there is hereby established a State-wide cancer clinic at the Medical
University of South Carolina, to be supervised and controlled in all
respects by, and its administration to be under the direction of, the
board of trustees of the university.
(A) There is established the South Carolina Central Cancer
Registry and, to the extent funds are available, the Department of
Health and Environmental Control shall administer this as a
statewide population-based registry of cancer cases with a diagnosis
date after December 31, 1995.
(B) The purpose of the registry is to provide statistical
information that will reduce morbidity and mortality of cancer in
South Carolina. This information must be used to guide cancer
control effort in the State by assisting in prevention and early
detection of cancer, extending the life of the cancer patient,
identifying high-risk groups or areas in the State with cluster of
cancer cases, and improving cancer treatment.
(C) The registry shall receive, compile, analyze, and make
available epidemiological and aggregate clinical cancer case
information collected from all health care providers who diagnose
and/or treat cancer patients in this State. The registry shall meet
national standards of completeness and timeliness of case reporting
and quality of data. Annual reports of aggregate cancer data must
be provided to reporting facilities and physicians in the State.
Section 44-35-30. This clinic and all personnel therein shall
be considered as one of the departments or subdivisions of the
Medical University of South Carolina and, as a part of the facilities
of the university, it shall be under the direction of the President, as
are all other divisions of the university. The selection of the director
and all clinic personnel shall be made in the same manner and their
relationship to the university shall be the same as in the case of
personnel in the other departments and in staff positions of the
university.
(A) A provider who diagnoses and/or treats cancer patients
and does not report to a regional cancer registry shall report specific
case information to the registry in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the Department of Health and Environmental
Control. These regulations shall include, but are not limited to, the
reportable case listing, data elements to be collected, the content
and design of forms and reports required by this section, the
procedures for disclosure of information gathered by the registry,
and other matters necessary to the administration of this section.
The regulations shall include these data elements:
(1) complete demographic information;
(2) occupational and industrial information to the extent
available;
(3) date and confirmation of initial diagnosis;
(4) pathological information characterizing the cancer,
including cancer site and cell type, stage of disease, and initial
treatment information, to the extent available, in the medical record.
A provider participating in a regional registry is not required to
report to the Central Cancer Registry. Reporting providers must not
incur additional expense in providing information to the registry.
(B) Regional registries shall report data on behalf of providers
in their area to the Central Cancer Registry.
Section 44-35-40. To establish and commence the operation
of the clinic the board of trustees of the university shall secure the
services of one or more persons who shall be doctors of medicine,
qualified by education, specialized training and experience of not
less than five years in research or practical application of the known
facts and methods of treatment with regard to cancer. The board
shall designate one of such persons as the executive head of the
clinic, to be known as the director, who shall be in charge of its
operation and responsible through the proper administrative
channels to the board. Such additional technical staff and clerical
assistance as may be deemed necessary by the director and
approved by proper administrative authority of the Medical
University shall be employed and paid from the funds provided for
the clinic. Information that could identify the cancer patient
must be kept strictly confidential in accordance with the
administrative policy of the Department of Health and
Environmental Control. This information must not be open for
inspection except by the individual patient or the patient's
authorized representative. Procedures for the disclosure of
confidential information to researchers for the purposes of cancer
prevention, control, and research must be promulgated in
regulations. The data release protocol developed in coordination
with the South Carolina Budget and Control Board, Office of
Research and Statistical Services, must be utilized by the registry to
determine appropriate use and release of cancer registry data.
Section 44-35-50. A laboratory and clinical equipment
necessary for the application of all approved methods of treatment
or removal of cancer shall be provided at the Medical University of
South Carolina along with a sufficient amount of hospital space for
the in-patient care and treatment of citizens of this State suffering
from the disease. The registry shall coordinate, to the fullest
extent possible, with the State Budget and Control Board, Office of
Research and Statistical Services, for the complete, timely, and
accurate collection and reporting of cancer data.
Section 44-35-60. The facilities of the clinic and hospital
treatment therein shall be available to any bona fide citizen of the
State whose condition has been first diagnosed as malignant since
becoming a resident of this State. When the condition is such as to
require in-patient care and treatment as an emergency measure, such
care and treatment shall be furnished temporarily but not for an
extended period under rules and regulations to be established by the
director of the clinic and approved, through the proper
administrative channels, by the President and the board of trustees
of the Medical University. When the director of the clinic shall
determine what treatment and procedures are necessary or advisable,
such treatment and procedures as may be available at the clinic
shall be furnished to those individuals who are medically
indigent. A provider or regional registry making a case
report or providing access to cancer case information to the registry
is immune from any civil or criminal liability that might otherwise
be incurred or imposed.
Section 44-35-70. The director of the clinic shall have
authority and responsibility for its direction and operation, for the
extent of its research and the judicious expenditures of the funds
made available for this purpose, all subject through proper
administrative channels to the supervision of the board of trustees
of the Medical University. The director shall annually make a report
concerning the operation of, and financial expenditures in
connection with, the clinic through the President of the Medical
University to the board of trustees, which shall be incorporated, as
received, and submitted with the recommendations of the board of
trustees, as a part of the annual report of the board of trustees, to
the General Assembly.
Section 44-35-80. The board of trustees of the Medical
University is authorized to receive and administer under the terms
of Sections 44-35-20 to 44-35-70, in addition to the funds made
available by the State, any other funds which may be provided by
the Federal Government, the American Cancer Society or any other
agency, institution, corporation or individual, for the purpose of
research and treatment in connection with cancer.
Section 44-35-90. The Department of Health and Environmental
Control may, to the extent of and within the available funds which
may be provided, acquire such laboratories,
hospitals, or other property, either real or personal, by gift,
purchase, devise or otherwise, as the Department
department shall in its discretion deem
considers advisable to afford proper treatment and care to
cancer patients in this State and to carry out the intent and purpose
of this chapter.
Section 44-35-100. The Department of Health and Environmental
Control shall make rules and regulations specifying to what
extent and on what terms and conditions indigent cancer patients of
this State may receive financial aid for the diagnosis and treatment
of cancer in any approved hospital in this State. The
Department may furnish aid to indigent cancer patients
of this State who are citizens residents of
this State to the extent of and within the available funds as the
department shall deem considers proper. The
department may, in its discretion, administer such
this aid in any manner which, in its judgment
and with the approval of the Cancer Control Advisory
Committee, provided for in Section 44-35-110, will afford
greater benefit to for the prevention, detection, and
control of cancer patients throughout the State.
Section 44-35-110. The Department of Health and
Environmental Control shall formulate and put into effect an
educational plan for the purpose of preventing cancer, of aiding in
the early diagnosis of cancer and of informing hospitals and cancer
patients of the proper treatment. There is established within
the Department of Health and Environmental Control the Cancer
Control Advisory Committee. The department shall appoint the
members of the committee which must consist of qualified
physicians, researchers, other experts engaged professionally in
cancer prevention and care in South Carolina, and health care
consumers. The committee shall advise and make recommendations
to the department about the formulation and implementation of a
comprehensive cancer prevention and control program through its
review of cancer control services throughout the State. The
committee shall:
(1) advise the department on professional issues pertaining to
cancer prevention, detection, care and surveillance;
(2) participate in the evaluation of cancer programs and
services offered through the department;
(3) serve as advocates for the poor and underserved patients
through support of the state-aid cancer clinics;
(4) assist the department in maintaining liaison with the
community and other health care providers; and
(5) advise the department on the administration of available
funds for the prevention, detection, care, and surveillance of
cancer.
Section 44-35-120. The reporting requirements provided for
in Section 44-35-30 are suspended if adequate funding is not
provided to the Department of Health and Environmental
Control."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the
Governor.
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