Requires primary care physicians to post information detailing how parents or guardians of children can subscribe to the US consumer product safety commission

BILL NUMBER:S3184

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring primary care physicians to post certain information detailing how parents or guardians of infants and children can subscribe to the United States consumer product safety commission's e-mail subscription lists

Purpose or general idea of bill

The purpose of this bill is to increase parents' awareness of recalls involving children's products.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 of this bill amends the Public Health Law by adding a new section, 2999-e which would require primary care physicians to promi- nently post in a location near the office area designated for the receipt of payment a notice designed by the Department of Health containing information detailing how parents or guardians of infants and children can subscribe to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission's e-mail subscription lists to receive consumer product recall and safety news by e-mail. The notice would be made available to primary care physicians by the Department on its website and would be provided in English, as well as in the six languages other than English most frequently spoken in the State according to the United States Census Bureau. And upon request from a primary care physician, any other language spoken by a significant number of people within the community served by such physician.

Section 2 of this bill sets the effective date.

Justification

In recent years, hundreds of products designed to protect, educate, and amuse our children have been subject to safety recalls. While these recalls are often publicized in news reports, if a parent happens to skip over an article or report regarding a recall, the lives of their children could be endangered. According to testimony received at the October 31, 2011 Assembly public hearing on child prod- uct safety, recall awareness and response rates remain stubbornly low, despite increased media attention. A representative of Consumers Union stated that the best way to improve recall response rates is to dissem- inate recall information directly to consumers. Fortunately, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has established an e-mail alert system that notifies parents when a children's product has been recalled. This bill would help to keep New York's children safe from potentially hazardous products by increasing parents' awareness of the CPSC's e-mail alert system.

Similar to recently enacted legislation requiring hospitals and birth centers to distribute information concerning the CPSC's e-mail alert system to new mothers (Chapter 539 of the Laws of 2010), this bill would require the Department of Health to design the notice and make it avail- able on its website. Medical office staff-would be able to print the

notice from the Department's website and post it in the reception area, resulting in minimal costs to physicians.

Prior Legislative History: New bill.

Fiscal implications for state and local governments

None to the State.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after which it shall have become a law.