Bill to screen babies gets through General Assembly Posted by Tim Darragh at 12:41:23 PM on July 1, 2014 Just when youre ready to dismiss state politicians at budget time as a collection of hopeless cranky children, they went and passed a bill that makes sense. The General Assembly Tuesday passed Sen. Daylin Leachs bill to mandate pulse oximetry testing in newborns. Pulse oximetry is a painless, non-invasive test that measures oxygen saturation in the bloodstream and can help diagnose congenital heart disease or defects. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, structural heart defects often are associated with low oxygen levels in the bloodstream among infants during the newborn period. Typically, it says, these babies require some type of intervention, usually surgery, early in life. Without screening, some newborns with heart disease might be missed because the signs of disease or defects might not be evident before an infant is discharged from the hospital after birth, it said. Infants with heart disease or defects are at significant risk for illness or death early in life because of physiologic changes that develop, CDC said. About seven out of every 1,000 babies born are affected by congenital heart disease, a news release from Leach says. The Newborn Coalition Foundation has a map of states with laws requiring screening. Youll notice the Keystone State is a bright pink (legislation pending) in a sea of green (legislation enacted) states. Medical authorities are largely in agreement that newborn screening is worthwhile. A recent study of more than 5,700 babies that appeared asymptomatic at birth showed that a proper cardiovascular physical exam, combined with pulse oximetry, improves the accuracy of doctors diagnosis of newborns. Its not clear how often babies are not screened here using pulse oximetry, but at less than $15, it seems to be a small cost to screen for potentially serious conditions blogs.mcall/health/2014/07/bill-to-screen-babies-gets-through-general-assembly.html
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 17:52:14 +0000
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