Requires facilities to perform pulse oximetry screening on newborns

16 Co-sponsors

• Joseph P. Addabbo Jr.
• Tony Avella
• Phil Boyle
• Neil D. Breslin
• Adriano Espaillat
• Patrick M. Gallivan
• Mark Grisanti
• Timothy M. Kennedy
• Liz Krueger
• George Latimer
• Kenneth P. LaValle
• Kathleen A. Marchione
• George D. Maziarz
• Velmanette Montgomery
• José Peralta
• David J. Valesky

BILL NUMBER:S270B

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring facilities to screen newborns for critical congenital heart defects through pulse oximetry screening

Purpose

Requires facilities to perform pulse oximetry screening on newborns for critical congenital heart defects

Justification

This bill requires each birthing facility in the state of New York be required to perform a pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart defects (CCHDs). For newborns, pulse oximetry screening involves taping a small sensor to a newborn's foot while the sensor beams red light through the foot to measure how much oxygen is in the blood, pulse oximetry screening is effective at detecting CHDs that may otherwise go undetected by current screening methods. Pulse oximetry screenings are non-invasive, painless, and take approximately one minute to perform. According to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services' Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children, congenital heart disease affects approximately seven to nine of every 1,000 live births in the United States and Europe; the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that CHD is the leading cause of infant death due to birth defects, and that about 4,800 babies born every year have CCHDs. Current methods used to detect CHDs include prenatal ultrasound screening, and repeated clinical examinations; however, prenatal ultrasound screenings, alone, identify less than half of all CHD cases. Many newborn lives could potentially be saved by requiring birthing facilities to incorporate pulse oximetry screening as a method for early detection of CHDs in conjunction with current CHD screening methods.

Legislative history

2011-12; A7941 Held in Health/S6726 Passed Senate

Fiscal implications

None to state.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.