South Carolina H 5136: Fentanyl

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5136 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 10, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5136

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH 
CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 44-63-74, RELATING TO MEDICAL 
CERTIFICATIONS ON DEATH CERTIFICATES, SO AS TO LIST FENTANYL POISONING AS THE 
CAUSE OF DEATH IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 44-63-74(A)(3) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (3)(a) Medical certifications of cause of death must be 
completed and returned to the funeral home director within forty-eight hours 
after receipt of notice of the death by the physician in charge of the patient's 
care for the illness or condition which resulted in death, except when an 
inquiry is required by a coroner or medical examiner. If the cause of death 
cannot be determined within forty-eight hours after death, the medical 
certification must be entered as pending, and the physician, medical examiner, 
or coroner shall submit a supplemental report to the state registrar on a form 
furnished by or approved by him as soon as practicable. The supplemental report 
shall be made a part of the death certificate. If the forty-eight hour period 
terminates on a weekend, federal holiday, or state holiday, the physician must 
file the certification by the end of the next business day. In the absence of 
this physician or with his approval, the certificate may be completed by his 
associate physician, the chief medical officer of the institution in which the 
death occurred, or by the pathologist who performed an autopsy upon the 
decedent.

 (b) The medical certification on a 
death certificate must include either the term "Fentanyl Poisoning" or the term 
"Fentanyl Toxicity" as the cause of death if:

 (i) a toxicology examination reveals a 
fentanyl-related controlled substance, including any fentanyl-related 
controlled substance listed in Section 44-53-190, present in the body of the 
decedent in an amount or concentration that is considered to be lethal by 
generally accepted scientific standards; and

 (ii) the results of an autopsy 
performed on the decedent are consistent with an opioid overdose as the cause 
of death.

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval 
by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on February 10, 2026 at 01:38 PM