Bill Text: NY A07941 | 2011-2012 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires facilities to perform pulse oximetry screening on newborns.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-05-22 - held for consideration in health [A07941 Detail]

Download: New_York-2011-A07941-Introduced.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         7941
                              2011-2012 Regular Sessions
                                 I N  A S S E M B L Y
                                     May 25, 2011
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by M. of A. CALHOUN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
         tee on Health
       AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring  facili-
         ties to perform pulse oximetry screening on newborns
         THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section 1. Legislative intent.   Congenital heart defects  (CHDs)  are
    2  structural  abnormalities  of  the heart that are present at birth; CHDs
    3  range in severity from simple problems such as holes between chambers of
    4  the heart, to severe malformations, such as the complete absence of  one
    5  or  more  chambers  or  valves;  some critical CHDs can cause severe and
    6  life-threatening symptoms which require intervention  within  the  first
    7  days of life.
    8    According to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services'
    9  Advisory  Committee  on  Heritable  Disorders  in Newborns and Children,
   10  congenital heart disease affects approximately seven to  nine  of  every
   11  1,000  live  births in the United States and Europe. The federal Centers
   12  for Disease Control and Prevention states that CHD is the leading  cause
   13  of infant death due to birth defects.
   14    Current  methods  for detecting CHDs generally include prenatal ultra-
   15  sound screening  and  repeated  clinical  examinations;  while  prenatal
   16  ultrasound  screenings  can  detect some major congenital heart defects,
   17  these screenings, alone, identify less than half of all CHD  cases,  and
   18  critical  CHD  cases  are  often  missed  during  routine clinical exams
   19  performed prior to a newborn's discharge from a birthing facility.
   20    Pulse oximetry is a non-invasive test that estimates the percentage of
   21  hemoglobin in blood that is saturated with oxygen. When performed  on  a
   22  newborn  a  minimum of 24 hours after birth, pulse oximetry screening is
   23  often more effective at detecting critical, life-threatening CHDs  which
   24  otherwise  go  undetected  by  current  screening methods. Newborns with
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD11744-01-1
       A. 7941                             2
    1  abnormal pulse oximetry results require immediate  confirmatory  testing
    2  and intervention.
    3    The  legislature  finds  and  declares  that  many newborn lives could
    4  potentially be saved by earlier  detection  and  treatment  of  CHDs  if
    5  birthing  facilities  in  the state of New York were required to perform
    6  this simple, non-invasive newborn screening in conjunction with  current
    7  CHD screening methods.
    8    S  2.  The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2500-k
    9  to read as follows:
   10    S 2500-K. PULSE OXIMETRY SCREENING OF NEWBORNS.  1.  THE  COMMISSIONER
   11  SHALL ESTABLISH A PROGRAM TO SCREEN NEWBORN INFANTS FOR CONGENITAL HEART
   12  DEFECTS  THROUGH  PULSE  OXIMETRY SCREENING. IT SHALL BE THE DUTY OF THE
   13  ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER OR  OTHER  DESIGNATED  PERSON  AT  EACH  FACILITY
   14  LICENSED  PURSUANT  TO  ARTICLE  TWENTY-EIGHT OF THIS CHAPTER CARING FOR
   15  NEWBORN INFANTS TO PERFORM A PULSE OXIMETRY SCREENING A MINIMUM OF TWEN-
   16  TY-FOUR HOURS AFTER BIRTH ON EVERY NEWBORN INFANT IN ITS CARE.
   17    2. FACILITIES SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION THAT  ADMINIS-
   18  TER  A  NEWBORN  INFANT  PULSE  OXIMETRY  SCREENING FOR CONGENITAL HEART
   19  DEFECTS SHALL REPORT TO THE DEPARTMENT IN A MANNER AND  FORMAT  REQUIRED
   20  BY THE COMMISSIONER:
   21    (A)  THE  RESULTS  OF  EACH  NEWBORN  INFANT  PULSE OXIMETRY SCREENING
   22  PERFORMED; AND
   23    (B) SUCH OTHER INFORMATION OR DATA AS MAY BE REQUIRED BY  THE  COMMIS-
   24  SIONER PURSUANT TO REGULATION TO FULFILL THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION.
   25    S 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
   26  it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
   27  ly,  the  addition,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation
   28  necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective  date  are
   29  authorized  and  directed  to  be  made  and completed on or before such
   30  effective date.