Bill Text: NJ A2346 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires dentist to notify patient before providing dental prosthesis manufactured outside the United States.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-25 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee [A2346 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A2346-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON
District 27 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires dentist to notify patient before providing dental prosthesis manufactured outside the United States.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the use of dental prostheses and supplementing Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section, "prosthesis" means a fixed or removable dental prosthetic device or appliance, whether fabricated in whole or in part and used for functional or cosmetic reasons or both, including, but not limited to, a complete or partial denture, veneer, inlay, onlay, crown, or bridge.
b. A licensed dentist, prior to providing to a patient a prosthesis that was manufactured outside the United States, shall notify the patient in writing, on a form and in a manner prescribed by the New Jersey State Board of Dentistry, that the prosthesis was so manufactured, and obtain written consent from the patient to the use of the prosthesis. The form shall contain a statement that the patient understands the prosthesis to be manufactured outside the United States and either agrees to its use or disagrees and requests the use of a prosthesis manufactured in the United States by indicating his preference and signing the form.
c. A dentist shall be liable to a penalty as provided in R.S.45:6-13 for a violation of this section or any regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
2. The New Jersey State Board of Dentistry, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.
3. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after enactment, but the New Jersey State Board of Dentistry may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of the act.
STATEMENT
The purpose of this bill is to ensure that every dental patient in New Jersey receives prior notification if a dental prosthetic device or appliance that the patient's dentist proposes to use on that patient was manufactured in a foreign jurisdiction. The need for this bill is predicated on reported evidence from media investigations that indicate a disturbing number of instances in which lead-tainted bridges, crowns, and fillings from foreign countries have been imported into the United States.
The bill provides specifically as follows:
· A dentist, prior to providing to a patient a prosthesis that was manufactured outside the United States, must notify the patient in writing, on a form and in a manner prescribed by the State Board of Dentistry, that the prosthesis was so manufactured, and obtain written consent from the patient to the use of the prosthesis.
· The form is to contain a statement that the patient understands the prosthesis to be manufactured outside the United States and either agrees to its use or disagrees and requests the use of a prosthesis manufactured in the United States by indicating his preference and signing the form.
· The bill defines "prosthesis" to mean a fixed or removable dental prosthetic device or appliance, whether fabricated in whole or in part and used for functional or cosmetic reasons or both, including, but not limited to, a complete or partial denture, veneer, inlay, onlay, crown, or bridge.
· A dentist will be liable to a penalty as provided in R.S.45:6-13 for a violation of this bill or any regulations adopted pursuant thereto ($300 for a first offense and $2,000 for a second and each subsequent offense unless otherwise specifically provided).
· The bill takes effect on the 180th day after enactment, but authorizes the State Board of Dentistry to take anticipatory administrative action in advance as necessary for its implementation.
