SECTIONS 1280-1291 - California Statutes

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE

SECTION 1280-1291

1280. It is unlawful for any person to represent himself or act as
a licensed individual under this chapter unless he is, in fact, duly
licensed under this chapter.

1281. It is unlawful for any person to own, operate, maintain,
direct, or engage in the business of operating a clinical laboratory,
as defined in this chapter, unless he or she possesses a valid
clinical laboratory license issued by the department. In the event a
health facility does not perform clinical laboratory services, but
provides laboratory services to its patients under an agreement with
another person or entity that holds and is operating under a valid
clinical laboratory license, the health facility shall not be
required to obtain a clinical laboratory license.

1281.1. It is unlawful for any person, including a person who owns,
operates, or directs a clinical laboratory, to provide, offer, or
solicit, any form of payment or gratuity for human blood or any other
biological specimen provided for the purpose of clinical laboratory
testing or clinical laboratory practice, unless the person is serving
as an agent of a clinical laboratory or another facility legally
utilizing those specimens only for purposes of research or teaching
or for quality assurance purposes, or is an entity licensed under
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1600) of Division 2 of the Health
and Safety Code.

1282. It is unlawful for any person to engage in clinical
laboratory practice in a clinical laboratory unless he or she is a
duly licensed physician and surgeon or is duly authorized to do so
under this chapter.

1282.2. It is unlawful for any person to perform venipuncture, skin
puncture, or arterial puncture to collect a biological specimen
unless he or she is authorized to do so under this chapter, the
regulations adopted thereunder, or under other provisions of law.

1282.3. (a) It is unlawful for any person to act with willful or
wanton disregard for a person's safety that exposes the person to a
substantial risk of, or that causes, great bodily injury by affecting
the integrity of a clinical laboratory test or examination result
through improper collection, handling, storage, or labeling of the
biological specimen or the erroneous transcription or reporting of
clinical laboratory test or examination results.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 1287, a violation of this section
shall be punished as follows:
(1) A first conviction is punishable by imprisonment in a county
jail for a period of not more than one year, or by imprisonment in
the state prison for 16 months, or two or three years, by a fine not
exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both this
imprisonment and fine.
(2) A second or subsequent conviction is punishable by
imprisonment in the state prison for two, four, or six years, or by a
fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both this
imprisonment and fine.
(c) The enforcement remedies provided under this section are not
exclusive, and shall not preclude the use of any other criminal or
civil remedy. However, an act or omission punishable in different
ways by this section and any other provision of law shall not be
punished under more than one provision. Under those circumstances,
the penalty to be imposed shall be determined as set forth in Section
654 of the Penal Code.

1283. It is unlawful for any person to conduct, maintain, or
operate a clinical laboratory unless he is a duly licensed physician
and surgeon or is duly authorized to do so under the provisions of
this chapter.

1284. It is unlawful for a duly licensed physician and surgeon, or
any person authorized to serve as director under this chapter, to
serve only as a nominal director.

1285. It is unlawful for any person conducting, maintaining, or
operating a clinical laboratory to employ any person to perform
clinical laboratory procedures unless the person is a duly licensed
physician and surgeon or is duly authorized to do so under the
provisions of this chapter.

1286. It is unlawful for any person to operate a school or conduct
any course for the purpose of training or preparing persons to
perform duties, as defined under this chapter and regulations of the
department, without having first secured the approval of the
department as herein provided.

1287. (a) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable upon conviction by imprisonment in
the county jail for a period not exceeding six months or by fine not
exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by both.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a violation of Section
1281.1 is a public offense and is punishable upon conviction by
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by a
fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that
imprisonment and fine.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a violation of Section 1282.2
is a public offense and is punishable upon conviction by
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by a
fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that
imprisonment and fine.
(3) The enforcement remedies provided under this section are not
exclusive, and shall not preclude the use of any other criminal or
civil remedy. However, an act or omission punishable in different
ways by this section and any other provision of law shall not be
punished under more than one provision. Under those circumstances,
the penalty to be imposed shall be determined as set forth in Section
654 of the Penal Code.

1288. Any person conducting or operating a clinical laboratory may
accept assignments for tests only from and make reports only to
persons licensed under the provisions of law relating to the healing
arts or their representatives. This section does not prohibit the
acceptance of evaluation specimens for proficiency testing or
referral of specimens or such assignment from one clinical laboratory
to another clinical laboratory, either licensed or exempt under this
chapter, providing the report indicates clearly the laboratory
performing the test. A report of results issuing from a clinical
laboratory shall show clearly the name and address of the laboratory
and the name of the director.

1288.3. (a) If a clinical laboratory employee, agent, or courier
retrieves biological specimens located in a public place outside of
the custodial control of a licensee, or his or her employee, agent,
or contractor, and those specimens are not secured in a locked
container, the clinical laboratory employee, agent, or courier,
utilizing the form provided by the State Department of Health
Services pursuant to Section 1220.5, shall (1) notify the licensee by
attaching the appropriate copy of the form to the unlocked storage
container, and (2) mail the appropriate copy of the form to the
Department of Consumer Affairs. The Department of Consumer Affairs
shall forward all forms received to the appropriate licensing entity.
(b) This section shall not apply where the biological specimens
have been received by mail in compliance with all applicable laws and
regulations.
(c) For purposes of this section: (1) "locked container" means a
secure container that is fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, key
lock, combination lock, or similar locking device.
(2) "Licensee" means a person licensed pursuant to this division 2
(commencing with Section 500), who collects human biological
specimens for clinical testing or examination.
(d) A violation of this section is not subject to Section 1287.
(e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2001.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require clinical
laboratory employees, agents, or couriers to notify licensees or the
Department of Consumer Affairs of an unsecured specimen if the State
Department of Health Services has not provided the appropriate forms.

1288.5. No person may solicit or accept any biological specimen for
clinical laboratory testing or examination unless there is in effect
for the clinical laboratory where the test or examination is to be
performed a license or registration issued pursuant to this chapter
applicable to the category of test or examination which includes that
testing or examination, and the person performing the test or
examination is authorized to perform the test or examination under
this chapter.

1289. The violating or attempting to violate, directly or
indirectly, or assisting in or abetting the violation of or
conspiring to violate any provision or term of this chapter or
regulations promulgated thereunder constitutes unprofessional conduct
within the meaning of this chapter.

1290. With the exception of narcotics and dangerous drugs stored on
the licensed clinical laboratory premises for use exclusively as
standards for the purpose of testing, the violation of any of the
statutes of this state regulating narcotics and dangerous drugs
constitutes unprofessional conduct within the meaning of this
chapter.

1291. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit a licensed physician
and surgeon from instructing or training any person employed by him
to work in a laboratory maintained by such physician and surgeon as
an incident of his own medical practice.