South Carolina General Assembly
116th Session, 2005-2006

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S. 562

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Leventis, Knotts, Thomas, Ford, Malloy, Land, Anderson, Elliott, McGill, Richardson, Short, Patterson, Moore and Matthews
Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11524ac05.doc

Introduced in the Senate on March 2, 2005
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Medical Affairs

Summary: Identity of person filing a complaint with the Medical Examiners Board must remain anonymous

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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    3/2/2005  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-7
    3/2/2005  Senate  Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs SJ-7

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

3/2/2005

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 40-47-215 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE IDENTITY OF A PERSON FILING A COMPLAINT WITH THE BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS AGAINST A PHYSICIAN MUST REMAIN ANONYMOUS UNLESS THE MEDICAL DISCIPLINARY COMMISSION FINDS THAT THE COMPLAINT IS WITHOUT MERIT AND THE PHYSICIAN PETITIONS THE ADMINISTRATIVE LAW COURT FOR DISCLOSURE OF THE COMPLAINANT'S IDENTITY AND THE COURT FINDS PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THE COMPLAINT WAS MADE MALICIOUSLY.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Article 1, Chapter 47, Title 40 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 40-47-215.    (A)    Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, or any other provision of law, the identity of a person filing a complaint with the board against a physician must remain anonymous unless the complainant waives his or her right to anonymity. However, if the Medical Disciplinary Commission finds that the complaint is without merit the physician may petition the Administrative Law Court to disclose the identity of the complainant.

(B)    If a petition to disclose the identity of a complainant is filed with the Administrative Law Court, the court shall determine if there is probable cause to believe that the complaint was made maliciously. If the court finds probable cause, the court shall disclose the identity of the complainant."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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