Md. Code, Health - General § 20-113

This is the official text of Md. Code, Health - General § 20-113, part of Maryland’s Code, Health - General — covers public health regulation.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

§20–113.

Official statutory text

(a) Before a physician treats any patient for any form of breast cancer, the physician shall educate the patient of alternative methods of treatment that may be medically practicable.

(b) The Maryland Department of Health shall:

(1) Provide a standardized written summary in layman’s language that:

(i) Lists all effective methods of treatment for breast cancer that may be medically practicable including surgical, radiological, chemotherapeutic, and combinations of those treatments; and

(ii) Describes the advantages, disadvantages, risks, and procedures associated with each method of treatment listed;

(2) Update the standardized written summary annually; and

(3) Distribute the standardized written summary to each hospital, clinic, and physician’s office and other facility that performs treatments of breast cancer.

(c) A physician satisfies the requirements of subsection (a) of this section if:

(1) The physician provides a breast cancer patient with the standardized written summary described in subsection (b) of this section in language that the patient understands;

(2) The patient receives the standardized written summary within 5 days of the start of the treatment for breast cancer; and

(3) The patient signs a statement provided by the Maryland Department of Health acknowledging the receipt of the standardized written summary.

(d) This section does not apply if the attending physician certifies that:

(1) Treatment for breast cancer occurred within 5 days of the physician informing the patient of the diagnosis; and

(2) Treatment within this period of time was necessary to save the life of the patient.

(e) A physician who violates any provision of subsection (a) of this section is subject to the provisions of § 14–404(a)(27) of the Health Occupations Article.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in Maryland?

Find a Maryland lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.