Skip to Main Content

Health Law

An overview of health law resources available through the UNC Law Library.

North Carolina Health Law Materials

North Carolina Health Law Statutes:

The majority of North Carolina health care legislation can be found in the following sections of the :

The UNC Law Library carries print versions (KFN7430.A24 1943) of the General Statutes of North Carolina Annotated (the official version published by Lexis), along with the West's annotated version of North Carolina statutes. The following electronic databases also provide access to North Carolina statutes: 

Free Electronic Access:

  • North Carolina General Assembly - The NCGA website provides several means for researching within the North Carolina General Statutes. This website also provides access to session laws and legislative committee materials.

Access via Library Databases:

  • Lexis  - Search for state health law statutes within the “Healthcare Law” Practice Page. Note that access is restricted to UNC Law Students & Faculty.
  • Westlaw - Provides topical searching capabilities - choose “Health Law.” The Health Law page will allow you to view important statutes by state. Note that access is restricted to UNC Law Students & Faculty.
  • Bloomberg Law - The Health Law Practice Center provides access to state statute and regulation trackers, along with a chart-building tool that can be used to compare the laws of various states on specific health law issues. Note that access is restricted to UNC Law Students & Faculty.

North Carolina Health Law Regulations & Administrative Materials:

The majority of North Carolina health law regulations are found in the following title of the North Carolina Administrative Code:

The UNC Law Library carries print versions (KFN7435.A26 1998)  of the NC Administrative Code, but the full code can also be access electronically here.

The main North Carolina agencies charged with overseeing state health law legislation are:

The following resources provide access to North Carolina regulations and administrative materials related to health law issues:

Free Electronic Access:

  • North Carolina Administrative Code - The NC Office of Administrative Hearings maintains an online, text-searchable version of the state's administrative code.
  • NC Department of Health & Human Services - The following website provides access to NC DHHS policies, manuals, and forms. These can be useful when advising clients on a variety of state-related health law issues.
  • NC Division of Health Service Regulation - The following website identifies the NC state rules and regulations that specifically apply to the NCDHSR. It also links out to text-searchable versions of the regulations.

Access via Library Databases:

  • Lexis: The Healthcare Law Practice Center enables you to search for materials directly related to healthcare law. Moreover, users can search for "State Statutes & Regulations - Healthcare" within this section and narrow their search results to North Carolina. Note that access is restricted to UNC Law Students & Faculty.
  • Westlaw: The "North Carolina Regulations" page allows users to search for specific health law regulations, and also enables users to view historic and pending regulations. Note that access is restricted to UNC Law Students & Faculty.

Other States Health Law Materials

Using Westlaw Next:

This database provides the following ways to research generally for state health law: (Access restricted to UNC Law Students & Faculty)

  • State Statutes - Provides a list of the major health codes for each state, and allows for targeted keyword searching within the applicable sections.
    • Note: You can also use this resource to search for state case law addressing health care issues.
  • Legislative History by State - Provides ability to search within legislative history materials for 37 states. Within each state's legislative history database, you can perform keyword searches for the health law issue you are researching.
  • Health Law Fifty State Surveys - Allows user to search topically by a set of identified health law issues and quickly view the law across various states.

Using Lexis+:

This database provides the following options for researching state health law: (Access restricted to UNC Law Students & Faculty)

  • State Statutes - The Healthcare Law practice page provides a means for keyword searching in state health statutes and regulations.
    • Note: You can also use this resource to search for state case law addressing health care issues.
  • State Agency Decisions – Healthcare - Allows a user to search for specific health law issues within the database of available agency decisions.
  • Legislative History Search - Provides search filters for specific state legislative histories, which can then be used to search for particular bills or health topics of interest. From the Lexis+ homepage, choose the "Browse" option in the upper left-hand corner of the page, then select "Sources" - "Statutes and Legislation." Finally, filter those results by category to only show legislative histories.
  • Health Law Fifty State Surveys - Allows user to view fifty state surveys on a variety of health topics.