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2002 SESSION
025966544Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 32.1-65 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 32.1-65. Infants to be subjected to tests.
In order to prevent mental retardation, permanent disability or death, every
infant who is born in this Commonwealth shall be subjected to a screening test
for biotinidase deficiency, phenylketonuria, hypothyroidism, homocystinuria,
galactosemia, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, [ median medium ] -chain
acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD or MCADH) deficiency, and Maple Syrup Urine
Disease, and each infant determined at risk shall be subject to a screening
test for sickle cell diseases. Any infant whose parent or guardian objects
thereto on the grounds that such test conflicts with his religious practices or
tenets shall not be required to receive a screening test. The physician, nurse
or midwife in charge of the delivery of a baby or, if none, the first attending
physician shall cause such test to be performed. The screening tests shall be
performed by the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services or any other
laboratory the Department of Health has contracted with to provide this
service.
The program for screening infants for sickle cell diseases shall be conducted in addition to the programs provided for in Article 8 (§ 32.1-68 et seq.) of this chapter.
[ 2. That the provisions of this act shall become effective on January 1, 2004.
3. That, prior to the effective date of this act, the Commissioner and
Department of Health and the Director of the Division of Consolidated Laboratory
Services shall seek assistance from a private, nonprofit organization in the
purchase of at least one tandem mass spectrometer, i.e., a technologically
advanced analytic instrument that can be used to test newborns for more than 20
treatable metabolic disorders by sorting molecules in blood samples according
to weight in a similar fashion to machines that sort coins.
2. That the provisions of this act shall only become effective one year after the date that sufficient funds are appropriated or otherwise secured to (i) support the Virginia Department of Health’s costs for start-up professional and family education and (ii) the purchase of the necessary equipment for implementation of the testing program in the Division of Consolidated Laboratories. ]