Bill Text: NY A08671 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Directs physicians to screen newborns for neonatal abstinence syndrome.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-21 - enacting clause stricken [A08671 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A08671-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          8671
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                   September 11, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. PAULIN, GALEF, JAFFEE, BARRON, ORTIZ, SEAWRIGHT,
          SIMON, WILLIAMS, WOERNER, McDONOUGH, CROUCH, M. L. MILLER -- read once
          and referred to the Committee on Health
        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring  facili-
          ties to screen newborns for neonatal abstinence syndrome through toxi-
          cological screening of infants' meconium or urine
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Legislative  intent.  The  legislature  hereby  finds  that
     2  neonatal  abstinence  syndrome (NAS) is a public health crisis affecting
     3  all levels of society in New York state.  Newborns  have  an  alarmingly
     4  high  rate  of  testing  positive  for  NAS as a result of high rates of
     5  addiction to narcotics and other drugs in many  regions  of  the  state.
     6  Addressing this public health crisis serves the public interest by help-
     7  ing  to ensure that newborns in this state receive appropriate treatment
     8  as early as possible to prevent adverse health outcomes.
     9    Between 2010 and 2012, there were 5,857 newborn drug-related diagnoses
    10  in this state, a rate of 83.8 diagnoses per 10,000 births.  In  each  of
    11  those  years,  the  number  of  newborns  diagnosed  with a drug-related
    12  illness increased. In the United States,  between  2000  and  2009,  the
    13  number  of newborns reported to have neonatal abstinence syndrome nearly
    14  tripled.  This is indicative of a public  health  crisis  affecting  all
    15  regions of the state and nation.
    16    Current  methods  for detecting NAS are inadequate, relying heavily on
    17  newborn observation and questioning of the mother  regarding  opiate  or
    18  narcotic  use.  In many instances, newborns are taken home after twenty-
    19  four to forty-eight hours. This time period may be inadequate for obser-
    20  vation to detect NAS symptoms.  Toxicological  testing  of  a  newborn's
    21  meconium or urine allows hospitals to detect NAS early, thereby enabling
    22  such  facilities  to  begin  treatment  to prevent future adverse health
    23  outcomes.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06229-01-7
        A. 8671                             2
     1    § 2. Subdivision (a) of section 2500-a of the public  health  law,  as
     2  amended  by  chapter  184  of  the  laws  of 2013, is amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    (a) It shall be the duty of the administrative officer or other person
     5  in  charge  of  each institution caring for infants twenty-eight days or
     6  less of age and the person required in pursuance of  the  provisions  of
     7  section  forty-one  hundred thirty of this chapter to register the birth
     8  of a child, to cause to have administered to every such infant or  child
     9  in  its  or  his care a test for phenylketonuria, homozygous sickle cell
    10  disease, hypothyroidism, branched-chain ketonuria,  galactosemia,  homo-
    11  cystinuria,  critical  congenital  heart  defects through pulse oximetry
    12  screening, neonatal abstinence syndrome, and  such  other  diseases  and
    13  conditions as may from time to time be designated by the commissioner in
    14  accordance  with  rules  or  regulations prescribed by the commissioner.
    15  Testing, the recording of the results of such tests, tracking, follow-up
    16  reviews and educational activities shall be performed at such times  and
    17  in such manner as may be prescribed by the commissioner. The commission-
    18  er shall promulgate regulations setting forth the manner in which infor-
    19  mation describing the purposes of the requirements of this section shall
    20  be disseminated to parents or a guardian of the infant tested.
    21    § 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  is
    25  authorized  and  directed  to  be  made  and completed on or before such
    26  effective date.