§762. Definitions
As used in this Chapter:
(1) "Bioterrorism" means the intentional use of any microorganism, virus, infectious
substance, or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology, or any
naturally occurring or bioengineered component of any such microorganism, virus, infectious
substance, or biological product, to cause death, disease, or other biological malfunction in
a human, an animal, a plant, or other living organism in order to influence the conduct of
government or to intimidate or coerce a civilian population.
(2) "Chain of custody" means the methodology of tracking specimens for the purpose
of maintaining control and accountability from initial collection to final disposition of the
specimens and providing for accountability at each stage of collecting, handling, testing,
storing, and transporting the specimens and reporting test results.
(3) "Contagious disease" means an infectious disease that can be transmitted from
person to person.
(4) "Health care provider" means a clinic, person, corporation, facility, or institution
which provides health care or professional services by a physician, dentist, registered or
licensed practical nurse, pharmacist, optometrist, podiatrist, chiropractor, physical therapist,
psychologist, or psychiatrist, and any officer, employee, or agent thereof acting in the course
and scope of his service or employment.
(5) "Infectious disease" means a disease caused by a living organism or other
pathogen, including a fungus, bacteria, parasite, protozoan, or virus. An infectious disease
may, or may not, be transmissible from person to person, animal to person, or insect to
person.
(6) "Infectious waste" means:
(a) "Biological waste", which includes blood and blood products, excretions,
exudates, secretions, suctioning and other body fluids, and waste materials saturated with
blood or body fluids.
(b) "Cultures and stocks", which includes etiologic agents and associated biologicals,
including specimen cultures and dishes and devices used to transfer, inoculate, and mix
cultures, wastes from production of biologicals and serums, and discarded live and attenuated
vaccines.
(c) "Pathological waste", which includes biopsy materials and all human tissues,
anatomical parts that emanate from surgery, obstetrical procedures, necropsy or autopsy and
laboratory procedures, and animal carcasses exposed to pathogens in research and the
bedding and other waste from such animals, but does not include teeth or formaldehyde or
other preservative agents.
(d) "Sharps", which includes needles, I.V. tubing with needles attached, scalpel
blades, lancets, breakable glass tubes, and syringes that have been removed from their
original sterile containers.
(7) "Isolation" means the physical separation and confinement of an individual or
groups of individuals who are infected or are reasonably believed to be infected with a
contagious or possibly contagious disease from non-isolated individuals, to prevent or limit
the transmission of the disease to non-isolated individuals.
(8) "Mental health support personnel" includes but is not limited to psychiatrists,
psychologists, social workers, and volunteer crisis counseling groups.
(9) "Military Department, state of Louisiana" includes the Louisiana National Guard,
the army national guard, the air national guard, or any other military force organized under
the laws of this state.
(10) "Protected health information" means any information, whether oral, written,
electronic, visual, or any other form, that relates to an individual's past, present, or future
physical or mental health status, condition, treatment, service, products purchased, or
provision of care, and that reveals the identity of the individual whose health care is the
subject of the information, or where there is a reasonable basis to believe such information
could be utilized (either alone or with other information that is, or should reasonably be
known to be, available to predictable recipients of such information) to reveal the identity
of that individual. "Protected health information" includes any health or medical information,
document, or record designated as confidential by state or federal law.
(11) "Public health authority" means the secretary of the Louisiana Department of
Health, or his designee, and the state health officer.
(12) A "public health emergency" means an occurrence or imminent threat of an
illness or health condition that:
(a) Is believed to be caused by any of the following:
(i) Bioterrorism.
(ii) The appearance of a novel or previously controlled or eradicated infectious agent
or biological toxin.
(iii) A disaster, including but not limited to natural disasters such as hurricane,
tornado, storm, flood, high winds, and other weather related events, forest and marsh fires,
and man-made disasters, including but not limited to nuclear power plant incidents or nuclear
attack, hazardous materials incidents, accidental release or chemical attack, oil spills,
explosion, civil disturbances, public calamity, hostile military action, and other events related
thereto.
(b) Poses a high probability of any of the following harms:
(i) A large number of deaths in the affected population.
(ii) A large number of serious or long-term disabilities in the affected population.
(iii) Widespread exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a significant risk
of substantial future harm to a large number of people in the affected population.
(13) "Quarantine" means the physical separation and confinement of an individual
or groups of individuals, who are or may have been exposed to a contagious or possibly
contagious disease and who do not show signs or symptoms of a contagious disease, from
non-quarantined individuals, to prevent or limit the transmission of the disease to non-quarantined individuals.
(14) "Specimens" include but are not limited to blood, sputum, urine, stool, other
bodily fluids, wastes, tissues, and cultures necessary to perform required tests.
(15) "Tests" include but are not limited to any diagnostic or investigative analyses
necessary to prevent the spread of disease or protect the public's health, safety, and welfare.
(16) "Trial court" means the state judicial district court for the district in which
isolation or quarantine is to occur, or, in the case of a declaration that involves more than a
single state judicial district, the Nineteenth Judicial District Court.