South Dakota § 34-22-12.1 - Confidentiality of reports--Exceptions.

§ 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;

(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.