Texas Health and Safety Code 81.042 – Persons Required to Report
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(a) A report under Subsection (b), (c), or (d) shall be made to the local health authority.
(b) A dentist or veterinarian licensed to practice in this state or a physician shall report, after the first professional encounter, a patient or animal examined that has or is suspected of having a reportable disease.
Terms Used In Texas Health and Safety Code 81.042
- 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.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- 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 corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Rule: includes regulation. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) A local school authority shall report a child attending school who is suspected of having a reportable disease. The executive commissioner by rule shall establish procedures to determine if a child should be suspected and reported and to exclude the child from school pending appropriate medical diagnosis or recovery.
(d) A person in charge of a clinical or hospital laboratory, blood bank, mobile unit, or other facility in which a laboratory examination of a specimen derived from a human body yields microscopical, cultural, serological, or other evidence of a reportable disease shall report the findings, in accordance with this section and procedures adopted by the executive commissioner, in the jurisdiction in which:
(1) the physician’s office is located, if the laboratory examination was requested by a physician; or
(2) the laboratory is located, if the laboratory examination was not requested by a physician.
(e) The following persons shall report to the local health authority or the department a suspected case of a reportable disease and all information known concerning the person who has or is suspected of having the disease if a report is not made as required by Subsections (a)-(d):
(1) a professional registered nurse;
(2) an administrator or director of a public or private temporary or permanent child-care facility;
(3) an administrator or director of a nursing home, personal care home, adult respite care center, or day activity and health services facility;
(4) an administrator of a home health agency;
(5) an administrator or health official of a public or private institution of higher education;
(6) an owner or manager of a restaurant, dairy, or other food handling or processing establishment or outlet;
(7) a superintendent, manager, or health official of a public or private camp, home, or institution;
(8) a parent, guardian, or householder;
(9) a health professional;
(10) an administrator or health official of a penal or correctional institution; or
(11) emergency medical service personnel, a peace officer, or a firefighter.