1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 121st Session, 2015-2016 3 4 H. 4470 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. King and Parks 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\bh\26352vr16.docx 11 12 Introduced in the House on January 12, 2016 13 Currently residing in the House Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry 14 15 Summary: Filing of death certificates 16 17 18 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 19 20 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 21 12/3/2015 House Prefiled 22 12/3/2015 House Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry 23 1/12/2016 House Introduced and read first time ( House Journalpage 74) 24 1/12/2016 House Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry (House 25 Journalpage 74) 26 27 View the latest legislative information at the website 28 29 30 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 31 32 12/3/2015 33 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTION 446374, AS AMENDED, CODE OF 12 LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO 13 ELECTRONIC FILING AND TRANSMISSION OF DEATH 14 CERTIFICATES, SO AS TO CHANGE THE TIME WITHIN 15 WHICH TO FILE DEATH CERTIFICATES AND TO 16 PROHIBIT THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 17 ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL FROM ASSESSING A 18 PENALTY AGAINST A FUNERAL HOME IF A PHYSICIAN 19 FAILS TO PROVIDE A MEDICAL CERTIFICATION. 20 21 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 22 Carolina: 23 24 SECTION 1. Section 446374(A) of the 1976 Code, as last 25 amended by Act 72 of 2015, is further amended to read: 26 27 “(A)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, death 28 certificates must be electronically filed with the Bureau of Vital 29 Statistics as prescribed by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics 30 within five thirty days after death. 31 (2) The funeral director or other person acting as the funeral 32 director who first assumes custody of a dead body shall file a death 33 certificate. He also shall obtain: 34 (a) the personal data of the decedent from the next of kin 35 or the best qualified person or source available; and 36 (b) the medical certification of cause of death as provided 37 in department regulations. 38 (3) Medical certifications of cause of death must be 39 completed and returned to the funeral home director within 40 fortyeight hours after receipt of notice of the death by the 41 physician in charge of the patient’s care for the illness or condition 42 which resulted in death, except when an inquiry is required by a

[4470] 2 1 coroner or medical examiner. If the cause of death cannot be 2 determined within fortyeight hours after death, the medical 3 certification must be entered as pending, and the physician, 4 medical examiner, or coroner shall submit a supplemental report to 5 the state registrar on a form furnished by or approved by him as 6 soon as practicable. The supplemental report shall be made a part 7 of the death certificate. If the fortyeight hour period terminates on 8 a weekend, federal holiday, or state holiday, the physician must 9 file the certification by the end of the next business day. In the 10 absence of this physician or with his approval, the certificate may 11 be completed by his associate physician, the chief medical officer 12 of the institution in which the death occurred, or by the pathologist 13 who performed an autopsy upon the decedent. 14 (4) Death certificates must be transmitted electronically 15 between the funeral home director and the physician, coroner, or 16 medical examiner certifying the cause of death in order to 17 document the death certificate information prescribed by this 18 chapter. Required signatures on death certificates must be provided 19 by electronic signature. An individual who acts, without 20 compensation, as a funeral director on behalf of a deceased family 21 member or friend, physicians certifying fewer than twelve deaths 22 per year, and funeral homes that perform fewer than twelve 23 funerals per year are exempt from the requirement to file 24 electronically but must comply with the requirements of items (2) 25 or (3), as applicable. 26 (5)(a) A physician who fails to certify the cause of death 27 within fortyeight hours, without good cause shown, may be 28 assessed an administrative penalty for violating item (3). The 29 department shall notify the Board of Medical Examiners if a 30 penalty is assessed. Each day after the initial fortyeight hour period 31 shall constitute an additional violation. 32 (b) A funeral home or funeral director who fails to file a 33 death certificate or collect data or collect medical certification of 34 cause of death as required in items (1), (2), or both, without good 35 cause shown, may be assessed an administrative penalty for 36 violating the respective item. However, the department must not 37 assess a penalty against a funeral home or funeral director for the 38 delay or inability to collect personal data of the decedent pursuant 39 to item (2)(a) or if the physician fails to complete and return the 40 medical certification to the funeral home director in accordance 41 with item (3). The department shall notify the Board of Funeral 42 Services if a penalty is assessed. Each day after the initial five day

[4470] 3 1 period in item (1) shall constitute an additional violation of that 2 item. 3 (c) A physician, funeral director, or funeral home that is 4 required to file electronically pursuant to item (4) but who fails to 5 file accordingly may be assessed an administrative penalty for 6 violating item (4). 7 (d) The administrative penalties are: 8 (i) two hundred fifty dollars for a first violation or a 9 warning letter; 10 (ii) five hundred dollars for a second violation; and 11 (iii) one thousand dollars for a third or subsequent 12 violation. 13 (e) The department shall retain any administrative 14 penalties collected pursuant to this subsection and must allocate all 15 of these funds to the Bureau of Vital Statistics for its use.” 16 17 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 18 Governor. 19 XX 20

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