Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:3714 – Charts or records of hospitals, other health care providers; admissibility of certified or attested copy; BAC scientific analysis reports
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:3714
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Health care provider: means a hospital, as defined in this Subsection, and means a person, corporation, facility, or institution licensed by the state to provide health care or professional services as a physician, hospital, dentist, registered or licensed practical nurse, pharmacist, optometrist, podiatrist, chiropractor, physical therapist, psychologist, social worker, or licensed professional counselor and an officer, employee, or agent thereof acting in the course and scope of his employment. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:3734
- Hospital: means any hospital as defined in La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:3734
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
A. Whenever a certified copy of the chart or record of any hospital, signed by the administrator or the medical records librarian of the hospital in question, or a copy of a bill for services rendered, medical narrative, chart, or record of any other state health care provider, as defined by La. Rev. Stat. 40:1299.39(A)(1) and any other health care provider as defined in La. Rev. Stat. 40:1299.41(A), certified or attested to by the state health care provider or the private health care provider, is offered in evidence in any court of competent jurisdiction, it shall be received in evidence by such court as prima facie proof of its contents, provided that the party against whom the bills, medical narrative, chart, or record is sought to be used may summon and examine those making the original of the bills, medical narrative, chart, or record as witnesses under cross-examination.
B. In any civil action, whenever a certified copy of Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of state police crime laboratory, scientific analysis report of the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test results of any person is offered in evidence in any court of competent jurisdiction, it shall be received in evidence by such court as prima facie proof of its contents, provided that the party against whom the scientific analysis report is sought to be used may summon and examine those making the report of the blood alcohol concentration as witnesses under cross-examination.
C. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section to the contrary, in any civil action, whenever the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test results are from a source other than the office of state police crime laboratory of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, if a timely challenge is raised in a court of competent jurisdiction to the authenticity, reliability, or accuracy of the test results, or to the lack of a proper foundation for the admissibility of the test results into evidence, the court shall conduct a hearing to determine the validity of the challenge and, if it finds that the challenge is well-founded, the court may rule the blood alcohol concentration test results inadmissible. The provisions of this Subsection shall not apply to a proceeding to suspend or disqualify a driver’s license pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 32:661 et seq., La. Rev. Stat. 32:414, or La. Rev. Stat. 32:414.2.
Acts 1984, No. 92, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1261, §1; Acts 2005, No. 52, §1; Acts 2008, No. 679, §1, eff. July 1, 2008.