Bill Text: NJ A920 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Exempts child under age six from hepatitis B vaccine requirement if child's mother tested negative for hepatitis B during her pregnancy.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee [A920 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A920-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2012 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman HOLLY SCHEPISI
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Exempts child under age six from hepatitis B vaccine requirement if child's mother tested negative for hepatitis B during her pregnancy.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning the hepatitis B vaccine and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, as set forth at N.J.A.C.8:57-4.16, require that every child born on or after January 1, 1990, receive three doses of hepatitis B vaccine, or any vaccine combination containing hepatitis B virus, prior to school entry into a kindergarten through grade 12, or a comparable age-level special education program with an unassigned grade;
b. The vast majority of newborns and other young children are not at risk for hepatitis B, because that disease is typically transmitted by a contaminated needle, sexual activity with an infected partner, or an infected mother;
c. It is more cost effective to analyze the mother's hepatitis B status before administering the hepatitis B vaccine to a young child;
d. There is a high number of adverse reactions from hepatitis B vaccinations, according to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System co-sponsored by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal Food and Drug Administration;
e. A study published in the Annals of Epidemiology in 2009 found that infant boys more than tripled their risk for an autism spectrum disorder after receiving a hepatitis B vaccination;
f. The website, GreenMedInfo.com, reports 44 articles, which, in the aggregate, list 60 diseases or adverse unintended consequences associated with receipt of the hepatitis B vaccine, including: anaphylactic shock and death in infants, multiple sclerosis, chronic arthritis, autism spectrum disorder, and diabetes, among others; and
g. Newborn children generally receive the hepatitis B vaccine before the mother and child have been discharged from the hospital after the mother has given birth; however, in view of the risks to the newborn child from receiving the vaccine and since pregnant women are routinely screened for hepatitis B during their last trimester of pregnancy, a negative test result for the mother should constitute grounds for exempting her newborn child from the hepatitis B vaccine required pursuant to N.J.A.C.8:57-4.16.
2. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law or regulation to the contrary, a child under six years of age shall not be required to receive the hepatitis B vaccine as a condition of attending school or a special education program if documented evidence is furnished to the school or program that the child's mother tested negative for hepatitis B during the third trimester of her pregnancy.
b. (1) A child who has not received the hepatitis B vaccine pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall, upon reaching six years of age, be examined by a physician to determine the child's need to receive the vaccine.
(2) If the physician determines that receipt of the vaccine is not medically suitable for the child, the physician shall certify that determination in writing, which shall provide the basis for continuing the child's exemption from such hepatitis B vaccination requirement as may be set forth in statute or regulation.
(3) A child who is unable to furnish evidence of such a physician's written determination to the school or special education program that the child is attending shall, after age six, be subject to such hepatitis B vaccination requirement as may be set forth in statute or regulation.
3. The Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.
4. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fifth month next following the date of enactment, but the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill is intended to protect newborn children from being unnecessarily exposed to the risks associated with receiving the hepatitis B vaccine. The vast majority of newborns and other young children are not at risk for hepatitis B, because that disease is typically transmitted by a contaminated needle, sexual activity with an infected partner, or an infected mother.
The bill provides specifically as follows:
· Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law or regulation to the contrary, a child under six years of age will not be required to receive the hepatitis B vaccine as a condition of attending school or a special education program if documented evidence is furnished to the school or program that the child's mother tested negative for hepatitis B during the third trimester of her pregnancy.
· A child who has not received the hepatitis B vaccine pursuant to this bill will, upon reaching six years of age, be examined by a physician to determine the child's need to receive the vaccine.
· If the physician determines that receipt of the vaccine is not medically suitable for the child, the physician is to certify that determination in writing, which will provide the basis for continuing the child's exemption from such hepatitis B vaccination requirement as may be set forth in statute or regulation.
· A child who is unable to furnish evidence of such a physician's written determination to the school or special education program that the child is attending will, after age six, be subject to such hepatitis B vaccination requirement as may be set forth in statute or regulation.
· The bill takes effect on the first day of the fifth month after the date of enactment, but authorizes the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services to take anticipatory administrative action in advance as necessary for its implementation.
