The Commissioner of Public Health shall use the records incident to a reported case of cancer for statistical and public health purposes only, and identifying information contained in these records shall be disclosed only when essential to safeguard the physical health of others. No person shall otherwise disclose or redisclose identifying information derived from these records unless:

1. (1) The person reported gives his or her prior written permission;
2. (2) A court finds, upon clear and convincing evidence and after granting the person reported an opportunity to contest the disclosure, that disclosure is essential to safeguard the physical health of others; or
3. (3) The identifying information is exchanged with a cancer registry that is maintained by a state and the Commissioner of Public Health receives a satisfactory assurance from the cancer registry that the confidentiality of the identifying information shall be preserved.

History

July 27, 1951, 65 Stat. 124, ch. 241, § 2

Feb. 21, 1986, D.C. Law 6-83, § 2(b), 32 DCR 7276

Sept. 11, 1990, D.C. Law 8-157, § 2, 37 DCR 4165

Prior Codifications

1973 Ed., § 6-1302.

1981 Ed., § 6-1202.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 7-304.