                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

IMMUNITY OF PHYSICIANS FOR LABORATORY RESULTS AND EXAMINATIONS (§
8.01-581.18:1)

A. No physician shall be liable for the failure to review or act on the results
of laboratory tests or examinations of the physical or mental condition of any
patient, which tests or examinations the physician neither requested nor
authorized, unless (i) the report of such results is provided directly to the
physician by the patient so examined or tested with a request for consultation;
(ii) the physician assumes responsibility to review or act on the results; or
(iii) the physician has reason to know that in order to manage the specific
mental or physical condition of the patient, review of or action on the pending
results is needed. However, no physician shall be immune under this section
unless the physician establishes that (a) no physician-patient relationship
existed when the results were received or accessed; or (b) the physician
received or accessed the results without a request for consultation and without
responsibility for management of the specific mental or physical condition of
the patient relating to the results or (c) the physician consulted on a specific
mental or physical condition, the results were not part of that
physician&#8217;s management of the patient and the physician had no reason to
know that he was to inform the patient of the results or refer the patient to
another physician; or (d) the physician received or accessed results, the
interpretation of which would exceed the physician&#8217;s scope of practice and
the physician had no reason to know that he was to inform the patient of the
results or refer the patient to another physician.

B. As used in this section, &#8220;physician&#8221; means a person licensed to
practice medicine, chiropractic, or osteopathy in the Commonwealth pursuant to
Chapter 29 (&#xA7; 54.1-2900 et. seq.) of Title 54.1.

HISTORY: 2006, c. 684.