§ 44-22-220 — Grievances concerning patient rights; penalties for denial of patient rights.

(A) The Office of Mental Health shall develop a system for documenting and addressing grievances concerning patient rights. Grievances concerning patient rights must be reviewed by the office and a determination made concerning whether or not corrective action is warranted. A copy of the written grievance must be forwarded to the Client Advocacy Program and Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities. (B) The Office of Mental Health shall develop procedures with time lines to process the grievances in a timely manner. The procedures must be made known to patients. (C) A person who wilfully causes, or conspires with or assists another to cause, the denial to a patient of rights accorded to the patient under this chapter, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. A person acting in good faith, either upon actual knowledge or information thought to be reliable, is immune from criminal liability under the provisions of this subsection.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 1991 Act No. 127, SECTION 1; 2008 Act No. 266, SECTION 6, eff June 4, 2008. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.