H.B. No. 1795
AN ACT
relating to newborn screening and the creation of the Newborn
Screening Advisory Committee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as "Greyson's Law" in
memory of Greyson Morris.
SECTION 2. Section 33.011(a-1), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a-1) Except as provided by this subsection and to [To] the
extent funding is available for the screening, the department shall
require newborn screening tests to screen for disorders listed in
the core [uniform] panel and in the secondary targets of the uniform
newborn screening panel [conditions] recommended in the 2005 report
by the American College of Medical Genetics entitled "Newborn
Screening: Toward a Uniform Screening Panel and System" or another
report determined by the department to provide more stringent [more
appropriate] newborn screening guidelines to protect the health and
welfare of this state's newborns. The department, with the advice
of the Newborn Screening Advisory Committee, may require additional
newborn screening tests under this subsection to screen for other
disorders or conditions. The department may exclude from the
newborn screening tests required under this subsection screenings
for galactose epimerase and galactokinase.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 33, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 33.017 to read as follows:
Sec. 33.017. NEWBORN SCREENING ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a)
The department shall establish the Newborn Screening Advisory
Committee.
(b) The advisory committee consists of members appointed by
the commissioner of state health services. The advisory committee
must include the following members:
(1) health care providers;
(2) a hospital representative;
(3) persons who have family members affected by a
condition for which newborn screening is or may be required under
this subchapter; and
(4) persons who are involved in the delivery of
newborn screening services, follow-up, or treatment in this state.
(c) The advisory committee shall advise the department
regarding strategic planning, policy, rules, and services related
to newborn screening and additional newborn screening tests.
(d) The advisory committee shall adopt bylaws governing the
committee's operations.
(e) The advisory committee may appoint subcommittees.
(f) The advisory committee shall meet at least three times
each year and at other times at the call of the commissioner of
state health services.
(g) A member of the advisory committee is not entitled to
compensation, but is entitled to reimbursement for travel or other
expenses incurred by the member while conducting the business of
the advisory committee, as provided by the General Appropriations
Act.
(h) The advisory committee is not subject to Chapter 2110,
Government Code.
SECTION 4. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the commissioner of state health services shall
appoint members to the Newborn Screening Advisory Committee as
required under Section 33.017, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 33.011, Health and Safety Code,
as amended by this Act, a physician or person attending the delivery
of a newborn child is not required to subject the child to the
additional newborn screening tests required under Section
33.011(a-1), Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, until
January 1, 2010.
SECTION 5. The heading to Section 81.090, Health and Safety
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 81.090. DIAGNOSTIC [SEROLOGIC] TESTING DURING
PREGNANCY AND AFTER BIRTH.
SECTION 6. Section 81.090, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), (i), (j), (k), and
(l) and adding Subsections (a-1), (c-1), and (c-2) to read as
follows:
(a) A physician or other person permitted by law to attend a
pregnant woman during gestation or at delivery of an infant shall:
(1) take or cause to be taken a sample of the woman's
blood or other appropriate specimen at the first examination and
visit;
(2) submit the sample to an appropriately certified
[a] laboratory [approved under this section] for diagnostic testing
approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for:
(A) [a standard serologic test for] syphilis
[approved by the board];
(B) [a standard serologic test for] HIV infection
[approved by the board]; and
(C) [a standard serologic test for] hepatitis B
infection [approved by the board]; and
(3) retain a report of each case for nine months and
deliver the report to any successor in the case.
(a-1) A physician or other person permitted by law to attend
a pregnant woman during gestation or at delivery of an infant shall:
(1) take or cause to be taken a sample of the woman's
blood or other appropriate specimen at an examination in the third
trimester of the pregnancy;
(2) submit the sample to an appropriately certified
laboratory for a diagnostic test approved by the United States Food
and Drug Administration for HIV infection; and
(3) retain a report of each case for nine months and
deliver the report to any successor in the case.
(b) A successor is presumed to have complied with this
section if the successor in good faith obtains a record that
indicates compliance with Subsections (a) and (a-1), if applicable.
(c) A physician or other person in attendance at a delivery
shall:
(1) take or cause to be taken a sample of blood or
other appropriate specimen from the mother on admission for
delivery; and
(2) submit the sample to an appropriately certified
[a] laboratory [approved under this section] for diagnostic testing
approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for:
(A) [a standard serologic test for] syphilis
[approved by the board]; and
(B) [a standard serologic test for HIV infection
approved by the board; and
[(C) a standard serologic test for] hepatitis B
infection [approved by the board].
(c-1) If the physician or other person in attendance at the
delivery does not find in the woman's medical records results from
the diagnostic test for HIV infection performed under Subsection
(a-1), the physician or person shall:
(1) take or cause to be taken a sample of blood or
other appropriate specimen from the mother;
(2) submit the sample to an appropriately certified
laboratory for diagnostic testing approved by the United States
Food and Drug Administration for HIV infection; and
(3) instruct the laboratory to expedite the processing
of the test so that the results are received less than six hours
after the time the sample is submitted.
(c-2) If the physician or other person in attendance at the
delivery does not find in the woman's medical records results from a
diagnostic test for HIV infection performed under Subsection (a-1),
and the diagnostic test for HIV infection was not performed before
delivery under Subsection (c-1), the physician or other person in
attendance at delivery shall:
(1) take or cause to be taken a sample of blood or
other appropriate specimen from the newborn child less than two
hours after the time of birth;
(2) submit the sample to an appropriately certified
laboratory for a diagnostic test approved by the United States Food
and Drug Administration for HIV infection; and
(3) instruct the laboratory to expedite the processing
of the test so that the results are received less than six hours
after the time the sample is submitted.
(i) Before conducting or causing to be conducted a
diagnostic [standard serologic] test for HIV infection under this
section, the physician or other person shall advise the woman that
the result of a test taken under this section is confidential as
provided by Subchapter F, but that the test is not anonymous. The
physician or other person shall explain the difference between a
confidential and an anonymous test to the woman and that an
anonymous test may be available from another entity. The physician
or other person shall make the information available in another
language, if needed, and if resources permit. The information
shall be provided by the physician or another person, as needed, in
a manner and in terms understandable to a person who may be
illiterate if resources permit.
(j) The result of a [standard] test for HIV infection under
Subsection (a)(2)(B), (a-1), (c-1), or (c-2) [(c)(2)(B)] is a test
result for purposes of Subchapter F.
(k) Before the [blood] sample is taken, the health care
provider shall distribute to the patient printed materials about
AIDS, HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis. A health care provider shall
verbally notify the patient that an HIV test shall be performed if
the patient does not object. If the patient objects, the patient
shall be referred to an anonymous testing facility or instructed
about anonymous testing methods. The health care provider shall
note on the medical records that the distribution of printed
materials was made and that verbal notification was given. The
materials shall be provided to the health care provider by the
department [Texas Department of Health] and shall be prepared and
designed to inform the patients about:
(1) the incidence and mode of transmission of AIDS,
HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis;
(2) how being infected with HIV, AIDS, hepatitis B, or
syphilis could affect the health of their child;
(3) the available cure for syphilis;
(4) the available treatment to prevent
maternal-infant HIV transmission; and
(5) methods to prevent the transmission of the HIV
virus, hepatitis B, and syphilis.
(l) A physician or other person may not conduct a diagnostic
[standard] test for HIV infection under Subsection (a)(2)(B),
(a-1), or (c-1) [(c)(2)(B)] if the woman objects. A physician or
other person may not conduct a diagnostic test for HIV infection
under Subsection (c-2) if a parent, managing conservator, or
guardian objects.
SECTION 7. Sections 81.090(d), (e), (f), and (h), Health
and Safety Code, are repealed.
SECTION 8. (a) Sections 81.090(a), (c), (i), and (k),
Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to a test
performed on or after the effective date of this Act. A test
performed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the
law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) Sections 81.090(a-1), (c-1), and (c-2), Health and
Safety Code, as added by this Act, and Sections 81.090(b), (j), and
(l), Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to a
physician or other person attending a pregnant woman during
gestation or at delivery of an infant on or after January 1, 2010.
SECTION 9. This Act does not make an appropriation. A
provision in this Act that creates a new governmental program,
creates a new entitlement, or imposes a new duty on a governmental
entity is not mandatory during a fiscal period for which the
legislature has not made a specific appropriation to implement the
provision.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1795 was passed by the House on May
14, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 1795 on May 29, 2009, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 1795 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 134,
Nays 8, 2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1795 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays
2; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
1795 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays 2.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor