S.C. Code Ann. § 44-37-30 – Neonatal testing of children; storage and availability of blood samples for future tests; confidentiality; religious exemption; violation and penalties

(A) Every child born in this State shall have neonatal testing to detect inborn metabolic errors and hemoglobinopathies. The Department of Health and Environmental Control shall prescribe by regulation the tests to be performed, the persons and institutions responsible for obtaining necessary samples for the prescribed test, the procedures to be followed in testing and recording the results of the tests, methods and procedures for storage of the samples, and the provision of appropriate counseling and medical referral. Blood taken to perform these tests must be stored by the department at minus 20� centigrade and available for additional tests as the department prescribes by regulation.
(B) Information obtained pursuant to tests administered pursuant to this section is confidential and may be released only to the parents of the child, the child's physician, and the child when eighteen years of age or older.
(C) A person who violates this section or fails to comply with the regulations promulgated pursuant to this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days. Children of parents objecting to tests on religious grounds are not required to receive the tests.