H. B. 2740
(By Delegates Compton, Leach, Hutchins,
Osborne, Mahan, Caputo and Hubbard)
[Introduced March 26, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resouces.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections one, two, four, six, nine,
eleven, fifteen and twenty-four, article four, chapter
sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to sexually
transmitted disease; changing the phrase "venereal disease"
to "sexually transmitted disease"; and allowing the
secretary of the department of health and human resources to
designate the diseases which are sexually transmitted.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one, two, four, six, nine, eleven, fifteen and
twenty-four, article four, chapter sixteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES.
§16-4-1. Diseases designated as sexually transmitted; prostitution as source thereof.
Syphilis, gonorrhea, and chancroid, herein designated as
venereal diseases Sexually transmitted diseases, as designated
by the secretary of the department of health and human resources
in rules proposed for legislative approval in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code,
are hereby declared to be infectious, contagious, communicable
and dangerous to the public health. Prostitution is hereby
declared to be a prolific source of such these diseases; and the
repression of prostitution is hereby declared to be a health
measure. If a conflict exists between a provision of this
article and a provision of article three-c of this chapter, the
provision of article three-c shall prevail.
§16-4-2. Investigations by local health officers.
It shall be is the duty of all municipal and county health
officers to use every available means to ascertain the existence
of, and to investigate all cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and
chancroid sexually transmitted disease coming within their
respective jurisdictions and, when it is necessary, have all such
cases treated, if they are not already under treatment, and to
ascertain the sources of such the infection, and to institute
measures for the protection of other persons from infection by
such venereally the infected person, or from persons reasonably suspected of being so infected, and for the protection of the
public health at all times, and to this end said the health
officer, if he be or she is a municipal health officer, may
designate any member of the city police or health department to
make any investigation contemplated hereunder; and, if a county
health officer, he or she may designate any discreet person to do
so; and while such those persons are conducting such the
investigations they shall have all authority necessary for the
purpose, the same as the health officer. himself
§16-4-4. Evidence of infection.
The following shall be are prima facie grounds and reasons
for suspecting that such persons are infected with a venereal
disease, that is, with syphilis, gonorrhea or chancroid a person
is infected with a sexually transmitted disease:
(a) Being a common prostitute, that is, a person commonly
reputed in the neighborhood where he or she lives as practicing
promiscuous sexual intercourse, whether such person be the person
is male or female;
(b) Being a person known to be associating with prostitutes;
(c) Being a person who has been convicted in any court, or
before a police judge, or before a justice of the peace
magistrate, upon any charge growing out of sex sexual immorality,
such as keeping a house of ill fame or bawdy house, or loitering
in any such house, or of streetwalking, fornication or adultery;
(d) Being a person heretofore arraigned upon any charge as
set out in the last subsection (c) of this section, where the
evidence does not justify a conviction but does raise the
inference that such the person is infected with a venereal
sexually transmitted disease;
(e) Being a person heretofore reported by a physician as
infected with a venereal disease, where such sexually transmitted
disease, where the person is afterwards reported as having failed
to return for treatment;
(f) Being a person designated in a venereal sexually
transmitted disease report as the source of such the infection of
the person reported.
§16-4-6. Reports by physicians.
It shall be is the duty of every practicing physician or
other person who makes a diagnosis in or treats a case of
syphilis, gonorrhea or chancroid sexually transmitted disease to
make two reports of the case, as follows: One report shall be
made to the local municipal health officer, if the party for whom
the diagnosis was made or case treated lives within any
municipality having a health officer, and if the municipality has
no health officer, or if the party lives outside of a
municipality, then to the health officer of the county in which
such the person lives; the second report shall be made to the
director of health of the state. And every superintendent or manager of a hospital, dispensary, or charitable or penal
institution in which there is a case of venereal sexually
transmitted disease shall report the same disease under like
conditions.
The reports above required by this section shall state the
street number and address of the person reported as diseased, the
age, sex, color, marital state and occupation of such the person,
the date of the onset of the disease, the source of infection,
whether said the disease is in an infectious state, and whether
the person reported is at the time of making report engaged in
any occupation forbidden under this article and hereafter
mentioned. The reports when made out shall be mailed or handed
to the parties to whom they are directed to be made within forty-
eight hours after a diagnosis is made or treatment started; and
the within the specifications and time frame set forth by the
director in the "Reportable Disease Rules" as provided by CSR
64-64-7. The municipal health officer or county health officer,
as the case may be, shall file and preserve said the reports, and
they shall be open to inspection by the director of the state
department division of health, and by local health officers, or
officers whose duties are connected with executing the laws
against these diseases.
§16-4-9. Treatment.
It shall be is the duty of every physician or other person who examines or treats a person having syphilis, gonorrhea, or
chancroid a sexually transmitted disease to instruct said the
person in measures for preventing the spread of such the disease,
and to inform him or her of the necessity of taking treatment
until cured. and all such persons who were Any person who has
been examined and found infected, or are is being treated as
above set out, shall follow such the directions and take such
precautions as are necessary and are recommended. and every Any
person starting to take treatment shall continue such the
treatment until discharged by said the physician or other person
treating him or her. and Any failure to return for further
treatment within ten days after the last date set by said the
physician or other person for said the patient to return for
further treatment, without lawful excuse therefor, shall be is a
misdemeanor and such the person shall be punished as hereinafter
provided. After the ten days mentioned above for the patient to
return for treatment shall have has expired, the physician or
other person to whom said the patient should have returned for
treatment shall, unless he or she has knowledge of good reasons
why said the patient failed to return, make a report of the facts
in the case to the local health officer having proper
jurisdiction. and said The local health officer shall at once
make an investigation to ascertain why said the patient failed to
return, and shall take any steps necessary in the matter to protect the public health, and to this end he or she may arrest,
detain and quarantine said patient so failing to return for
treatment the patient.
§16-4-11. Precautions as to exposure to disease.
Whenever any attending physician or other person knows or
has good reasons to believe that any person having syphilis,
gonorrhea or chancroid a sexually transmitted disease is so
conducting himself or herself, or is about to so conduct himself
or herself, in such a manner as to expose other persons to
infection, such the physician or other person shall at once
notify the local health officer having jurisdiction of the facts
in the case, giving the name and address of the party; and said
person; and the local health officer upon receipt of such the
notice shall at once cause an investigation to be made to
ascertain what should be done in the premises, and may do
whatever is necessary to protect the public health.
§16-4-15. Form and execution of warrant.
Such warrant or order mentioned in the preceding section The
warrant or order, as described in section fourteen of this
article, shall be directed to the chief of police if within a
municipality, or to any sheriff or constable if without, or to
any other officer qualified to execute process, directing said
the officer to apprehend the person mentioned therein, and to bring said party him or her before the said health officer at a
time and place set out in the warrant or order, there to be
further dealt with as provided by law. and said The officer to
whom the warrant is directed shall execute the same it as are
other papers of like character or kind. And pending a hearing in
the matter said the officer may for safekeeping, lodge said the
person so apprehended under warrant, in jail or in any other
place of detention that may have has been provided for such
persons. but The health officer may at his or her discretion and
by indorsement on the warrant at the time of its issuance, direct
any other disposition to be made of the person arrested, before
trial, as to him shall appear proper, and said The officer
executing the warrant shall be guided thereby, but said officer
shall may not be held responsible should if the person arrested
escape escapes. Said warrant above required to be issued The
warrant shall be sufficient if it is in words and figures as
follows (the blanks to be filled as necessary in each case):
State of West Virginia, Office of ......................
County (or City) of ......... County (or City) of ..........
.......................... Officer.
To................, Chief of Police, Sheriff or Constable of
................ City, of County of ...............:
It having been brought to the attention of the undersigned
health officer for (city or county) of ................, West Virginia, that .............., reported as living or residing at
............... in said (city or county), is infected, or is
reasonably suspected of being infected, with one or more venereal
sexually transmitted diseases to wit: syphilis, gonorrhea, and
chancroid by reason of the fact that said ............... has
been reported as (set out any reasons set in section fourteen of
this article, or other reasons)
............................................................
............................................................
and therefore reasonably suspected of being so infected; and as
such diseases have been declared to be infectious, contagious,
communicable, and dangerous to the public health.
These are therefore to command you to apprehend the said
......................, if found within your bailiwick, and to
bring ................ before me at my office in the city or
county of .................. on the .............. day of
..............., 19 ...., at ........ o'clock, .... M, there to
be further dealt with as provided by law.
Given under my hand, this the ........ day of
..............., 19 .....
.....................................
Health Officer or Commissioner.
City (or County) of ..............
West Virginia.
§16-4-24. Offenses by druggists.
No druggist or other person, not a licensed physician under
the laws of the state, shall may prescribe, recommend, or sell,
compound or mix to any person any drugs, medicines or other
substances to be used for the cure or alleviation of syphilis,
gonorrhea or chancroid a sexually transmitted disease, no matter
whether said the drugs, medicines or substances are patented, or
proprietary, or otherwise, or compound or mix any drugs,
medicines or other compounds for any of said purposes aforesaid
except upon a written formula or order written for the person for
whom the drugs or medicines are compounded and signed by a
physician licensed to practice under the laws of the state or
where the drug has federal food and drug administration approval
for over-the-counter use. All drugs, medicines or substances
that are commonly known to the medical profession as being
commonly used for such purposes as aforesaid for the cure or
alleviation of said sexually transmitted diseases, whether the
name is on the bottles or labels or not, shall be construed as
coming within the prohibition above of this section. and All
drugstores shall be at all times open to the inspection of any
local health officer, or to any party designated by the director
of the bureau of venereal diseases sexually transmitted diseases
program of the state, to see whether the provisions of this
section are being carried out by said the druggists or stores. A sale by a clerk shall also be considered as a sale by the owner
or proprietor, and both may be prosecuted hereunder for a
misdemeanor.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow the secretary of
the department of health and human resources to designate by rule
the diseases which are sexually transmitted.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.