Bill Text: NY S06726 | 2011-2012 | General Assembly | Introduced

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

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-06-20 - referred to health [S06726 Detail]

Download: New_York-2011-S06726-Introduced.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         6726
                                   I N  S E N A T E
                                    March 14, 2012
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  Sen.  LARKIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
         printed to be committed to the Committee 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
   25  abnormal pulse oximetry results require immediate  confirmatory  testing
   26  and intervention.
   27    The  legislature  finds  and  declares  that  many newborn lives could
   28  potentially be saved by earlier  detection  and  treatment  of  CHDs  if
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD11744-01-1
       S. 6726                             2
    1  birthing  facilities  in  the state of New York were required to perform
    2  this simple, non-invasive newborn screening in conjunction with  current
    3  CHD screening methods.
    4    S  2.  The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2500-k
    5  to read as follows:
    6    S 2500-K. PULSE OXIMETRY SCREENING OF NEWBORNS.  1.  THE  COMMISSIONER
    7  SHALL ESTABLISH A PROGRAM TO SCREEN NEWBORN INFANTS FOR CONGENITAL HEART
    8  DEFECTS  THROUGH  PULSE  OXIMETRY SCREENING. IT SHALL BE THE DUTY OF THE
    9  ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER OR  OTHER  DESIGNATED  PERSON  AT  EACH  FACILITY
   10  LICENSED  PURSUANT  TO  ARTICLE  TWENTY-EIGHT OF THIS CHAPTER CARING FOR
   11  NEWBORN INFANTS TO PERFORM A PULSE OXIMETRY SCREENING A MINIMUM OF TWEN-
   12  TY-FOUR HOURS AFTER BIRTH ON EVERY NEWBORN INFANT IN ITS CARE.
   13    2. FACILITIES SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION THAT  ADMINIS-
   14  TER  A  NEWBORN  INFANT  PULSE  OXIMETRY  SCREENING FOR CONGENITAL HEART
   15  DEFECTS SHALL REPORT TO THE DEPARTMENT IN A MANNER AND  FORMAT  REQUIRED
   16  BY THE COMMISSIONER:
   17    (A)  THE  RESULTS  OF  EACH  NEWBORN  INFANT  PULSE OXIMETRY SCREENING
   18  PERFORMED; AND
   19    (B) SUCH OTHER INFORMATION OR DATA AS MAY BE REQUIRED BY  THE  COMMIS-
   20  SIONER PURSUANT TO REGULATION TO FULFILL THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION.
   21    S 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
   22  it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
   23  ly,  the  addition,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation
   24  necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective  date  are
   25  authorized  and  directed  to  be  made  and completed on or before such
   26  effective date.