Hawaii Revised Statutes

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 338-1 (2025)

  Definitions of terms

✓ laws through the 2025 session: the 2026 session is not included
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PART I.  STATE PUBLIC HEALTH STATISTICS ACT

 

     §338-1  Definitions of terms.  As used in this part unless the context otherwise indicates:

     "Dead body" means lifeless human body, or such parts of the human body, or the bones thereof, from the state of which it reasonably may be concluded that death recently occurred.

     "Fetal death" is death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, that did not, after complete separation from the mother, breathe or show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or movement of voluntary muscle.

     "Live birth" is the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception that did, after complete expulsion or extraction from the mother, breathe or show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or movement of voluntary muscle, whether or not the umbilical cord was cut or the placenta attached.

     "Person in charge of disposition of the body" means any person who places, or causes to be placed, a stillborn child, or dead body, or ashes, after cremation, in a grave, vault, urn, or other receptacle, or otherwise disposes thereof.

     "Physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine or osteopathic medicine under part I of chapter 453 or a practitioner of medicine, osteopathic medicine, or surgery excepted from licensure by section 453-2(b)(3).

     "Public health statistics" includes the registration, preparation, transcription, collection, compilation, and preservation of data pertaining to births, adoptions, legitimations, deaths, fetal deaths, morbidity, marital status, and data incidental thereto. [L 1949, c 327, §2; am L 1951, c 92, §1; RL 1955, §57-1; HRS §338-1; am L 1973, c 17, §5; am L 1975, c 66, §2(1); am L 1982, c 112, §2; gen ch 1985; am L 1987, c 100, §1; am L 1993, c 131, §1; am L 2009, c 11, §44]

 

 

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 2011–2018 · leading case: Castro v. Melchor., 414 P.3d 53 (Haw. 2018).
Castro v. Melchor., 414 P.3d 53 (Haw. 2018). · cites it 2× “The legislature recognizes the distinction between "persons" and "fetuses" as well as "deaths" and "fetal deaths.”
Just. v. Fuddy, 253 P.3d 665 (Haw. App. 2011). · cites it 4× “" HRS § 338-1 (2010). [8] The term "vital statistics" is not defined in HRS Chapter 338, but appears to be used synonymously with the term "public health statistics.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.