A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require health care providers and health care facilities to release pathological materials and records to patients or their designated representatives, upon written request.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 29 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 90‑411.1.  Pathological materials and related medical records.
Upon receipt of a written and signed authorization by a patient or the patient's representative, a health care provider or health care facility licensed under the laws of this State shall furnish to the patient or to the patient's designated representative pathological materials collected from the patient along with complete copies of any medical records in the provider's or facility's possession that pertain to the pathological materials collected from the patient. A health care provider or health care facility shall furnish pathological materials and related medical records requested under this section within 30 days of the request and may charge a reasonable fee to cover the costs incurred in furnishing the pathological materials and related medical records to the patient or the patient's designated representative. As used in this section, "pathological materials" includes the patient's cytological materials, bodily fluids, tissues, organs, medical waste, paraffin blocks, and pathology slides."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2011, and applies to requests for pathological materials and related medical records made on and after that date.