Land Transport Act 1998

73 Who must give blood specimen in hospital or surgery

• (1) A person who is under examination, care, or treatment in a hospital or doctor's surgery must permit a blood specimen to be taken from the person by—

  • (a) the medical practitioner who is in immediate charge of the examination, care, or treatment of the person; or

  • (b) another medical practitioner or a medical officer.

  (2) If a person under examination, care, or treatment in a hospital or doctor's surgery is unconscious, a blood specimen may be taken from the person under this section by—

  • (a) the medical practitioner who is in immediate charge of the examination, care, or treatment of the person; or

  • (b) another medical practitioner or a medical officer.

  (3) The medical practitioner who is in immediate charge of the examination, care, or treatment of the person in a hospital or doctor's surgery—

  • (a) may take a blood specimen or cause a blood specimen to be taken by another medical practitioner or a medical officer; and

  • (b) must either take a blood specimen or cause a blood specimen to be taken by another medical practitioner or a medical officer, if an enforcement officer requests him or her to do so,—

  whether or not the person has consented to the taking of the specimen and whether or not the person is capable of giving consent.

  (4) If the specimen originally taken is insufficient for the purposes of the relevant blood specimen collecting procedure, the medical practitioner who is in immediate charge of the examination, care, or treatment of the person may take or cause to be taken by another medical practitioner or a medical officer a further blood specimen (which further specimen is for the purposes of this Act to be treated as a part of the original blood specimen taken from the person), whether or not the person has consented to the taking of the specimen and whether or not the person is capable of giving consent.

  (5) Despite subsection (3), a blood specimen may be taken under any provision of this section only if the medical practitioner—

  • (a) has reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is in the hospital or doctor's surgery as a result of—

    • (i) an accident or incident involving a motor vehicle:

    • (ii) an injury or a medical condition arising subsequent to an accident or incident involving a motor vehicle; and

  • (b) has examined the person and is satisfied that the taking of the blood specimen would not be prejudicial to the person's proper care or treatment; and

  • (c) tells the person (unless the person is unconscious) that the blood specimen is being or was taken under this section for evidential purposes.

  (6) If a blood specimen is taken under this section from a person who is unconscious, the medical practitioner or medical officer who took the specimen must notify the person in writing as soon as practicable that the specimen was taken under this section for evidential purposes.

  (7) No civil or criminal proceedings may be taken against the Crown, a district health board, or any other person in respect of the taking of a blood specimen under this section, or in respect of the sending of a blood specimen to an approved laboratory, on the ground of lack of consent of a person whose consent to the taking of the blood specimen would have been otherwise required by law if this section had not been enacted.

  (8) Nothing in subsection (7) applies to any proceeding on the ground of any negligent act or omission in the taking of a blood specimen.

  Compare: 1962 No 135 s 58D

  Section 73(1)(a): amended, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

  Section 73(1)(b): amended, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

  Section 73(2)(a): amended, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

  Section 73(2)(b): amended, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

  Section 73(3): amended, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

  Section 73(3)(a): amended, on 5 November 2011, by section 34(1) of the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 13).

  Section 73(3)(a): amended, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

  Section 73(3)(b): amended, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

  Section 73(4): amended, on 5 November 2011, by section 34(2) of the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 13).

  Section 73(4): amended, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

  Section 73(5): amended, on 5 November 2011, by section 34(3) of the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 13).

  Section 73(5): amended, on 22 June 2005, by section 37(a) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 77).

  Section 73(5): amended, on 22 June 2005, by section 37(b) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 77).

  Section 73(5): amended, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

  Section 73(5)(a): substituted, on 1 November 2009, by section 17 of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 17).

  Section 73(7): amended, on 5 November 2011, by section 34(4) of the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 13).

  Section 73(7): amended, on 1 January 2001, by section 111(1) of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 (2000 No 91).