SB 523

Under current law, blood tests for congenital and metabolic disorders (infant

blood tests), as specified in rules promulgated by the Department of Health Services

(DHS), must be performed on every infant born in a hospital or maternity home prior

to the infant's discharge. If an infant is born elsewhere than in a hospital or

maternity home, these infant blood tests must be performed within one week of birth.

Also under current law, DHS may establish a urine testing program to test infants

for causes of congenital disorders (infant urine testing program), in which no person

is required to participate. DHS must, under current law, contract with the State

Laboratory of Hygiene (SLH) to perform any required infant tests and to furnish

materials for use in those tests and must, by rule, impose a fee for infant testing to

cover various specified costs. Current law imposes confidentiality requirements on

information obtained from parents or a legal guardian in connection with infant

testing or obtained from infant testing specimens.

This bill eliminates the provision related to establishing an infant urine testing

program and modifies the provision relating to infant blood tests so that the required

tests, as specified in rules promulgated by DHS, may be any kind of test. Information

obtained from these required infant tests are subject to the same confidentiality

requirements as under current law. The bill provides that DHS must contract with

the SLH to perform any required infant tests that are laboratory tests and to furnish

materials for use in the tests. The bill also provides that DHS may require reporting

in connection with any required infant tests for use in statistical data compilation

and for evaluation of infant screening programs. The bill does not affect provisions

in current law relating to newborn hearing screenings.

Also under current law, the infant blood test and infant urine testing program

provisions do not apply if the parents or legal guardian of the child object on the

grounds that the test conflicts with their religious tenets and practices. The bill

retains this provision with respect to any required infant tests and provides that, in

addition, the parents or legal guardian of the child may object on the grounds that

a required infant test conflicts with their personal convictions.