32.1-38 - Immunity from liability.
§ 32.1-38. Immunity from liability.
Any person making a report or disclosure required or authorized by thischapter, including any voluntary reports submitted at the request of theDepartment of Health for special surveillance or other epidemiologicalstudies, shall be immune from civil liability or criminal penalty connectedtherewith unless such person acted with gross negligence or malicious intent.Further, except for such reporting requirements as may be established in thischapter or by any regulation promulgated pursuant thereto, there shall be noduty on the part of any blood collection agency or tissue bank to notify anyother person of any reported test results, and a cause of action shall notarise from any failure by such entities to notify others. Neither theCommissioner nor any local health director shall disclose to the public thename of any person reported or the name of any person making a reportpursuant to this chapter. No person making a report required or authorized bythis chapter shall be responsible for recognizing agents or suspecting thepresence of any conditions beyond the competence of a reasonable personpracticing his profession; however, any such person shall be immune asprovided in this section when making reports in good faith without grossnegligence and within the usual scope of his practice.
(Code 1950, § 32-48; 1976, c. 628; 1979, c. 711; 1988, c. 130; 1990, c. 777;1997, c. 271; 2002, c. 768.)