California · Health and Safety Code - HSC

HSC §120263: (a) No health care provider, as defined in this chapter, shall be subject to civil or criminal liability or professional disciplinary action for performing tests for a communicable disease on the avai

Misdemeanor

What this law says, in plain English

Health care providers and first responders are protected from liability for communicable disease testing done in good faith. Willfully performing such testing without following required procedures and causing harm is a misdemeanor.

Read the full statutory text
(a) No health care provider, as defined in this chapter, shall be subject to civil or criminal liability or professional disciplinary action for performing tests for a communicable disease on the available blood or patient sample of a source patient, or for disclosing the communicable disease status of a source patient to the source patient, an attending physician of the source patient, the certifying physician, the exposed individual, or any attending physician of the exposed individual, if the health care provider has acted in good faith in complying with this chapter. (b) Any health care provider or first responder, or any exposed individual, who willfully performs or permits the performance of a test for a communicable disease on a source patient, that results in economic, bodily, or psychological harm to the source patient, without adhering to the procedure set forth in this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed one year, or a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both.

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This page is legal information, not legal advice. Code text is sourced from official publications and may lag amendments — always confirm at the official source linked above. Plain-English summaries and relationship data are AI-derived and reviewed on an ongoing basis; verify with a licensed attorney before acting.