The Secretary of Health, in the discharge of the duties and faculties vested in him by §§ 171—190 of this title, may issue subpoenas and if any person thus summoned fails to comply therewith or if, upon appearing before the Secretary of Health refuses to take an oath, to testify or to answer any pertinent questions or to file any pertinent document when so ordered, the Secretary of Health may request the assistance of the Court of First Instance to compel the appearance, statement and presentment of documents. Said court, for a proven just cause shall order any person to appear before the Secretary of Health and to file documents or testify with respect to matter being dealt with. Failure to comply with the summons of the court may be punished by it as contempt. Any person who fails or refuses to appear and to testify, who disregards any licit request or refuses to file books, papers and documents, if able to do so, in compliance with a subpoena or legal request of the Secretary of Health, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment in jail for a term of not less than thirty (30) days nor more than six (6) months, or by both penalties, in the discretion of the court.
History —Mar. 14, 1912, No. 81, p. 122, added as § 37 on July 23, 1974, No. 189, Part 2, p. 67, § 2.