SB142 (Alpert)

U.S.A. California

Published

Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

SB 142 is a bill that will (among other things) expand Newborn Screening from 4 diseases to over 30. Every baby in the state is now screened for PKU, hypothyroidism, galactesemia and hemoglobinopathies. Without drawing anymore blood than is currently being drawn, the new test adds a LOT of low incident metabolic disorders--treating them w/diet and medication would prevent developmental and other expensive problems.

Please contact your state legislators to support this bill. Also, please contact the governors office to sign it--apparently (from what the March of Dimes people said) the governor didn't 'understand' it last year, that's why it wasn't signed. :confused: Don't know about that, but it is a worthwhile bill.

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Specializes in Emergency.

I had a homebirth in ohio and never screened any.

but hey if you are screening for one why not screen for them all???? sounds good to me.

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Specializes in NICU.

I was hoping that something would be done after the research project from a year or so ago. I never heard of any of our babies showing up positive, but it's hard to find out anything anymore.

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Specializes in Public Health, DEI.

For the life of me, I can't understand why we haven't been screening for these diseases for years. There was a period of time, when the state was flush, that they were screening for 22 of the most common 30. A family my agency works with happened to have had a daughter born with maple syrup urine disease during that time period. Because it was dxed so early, this little girl has been spared many of the most devastating complications of this condition going unchecked. She still has a number of developmental delays and will probably always have some special medical and educational needs, but the difference in her quality of life is significant. How can we put a price on that?

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