Find Legal Information

214.160 Blood specimen of pregnant women to be taken -- Laboratory test -- Substance abuse tests of pregnant women and newborn infants -- Use of tests -- Test for presence of hepatitis B.

Download pdf

214.160 Blood specimen of pregnant women to be taken -- Laboratory test -- Substance abuse tests of pregnant women and newborn infants -- Use of tests -- <br>Test for presence of hepatitis B. (1) Every physician and every other person legally permitted to engage in attendance upon a pregnant woman in this state shall take or cause to be taken from the woman <br>a specimen of blood for serological test for syphilis as soon as he is engaged to <br>attend the woman and has reasonable grounds for suspecting that pregnancy exists. <br>If the woman is in labor at the time the diagnosis of pregnancy is made, which may <br>make it inadvisable to obtain a blood specimen at that time, the specimen shall be <br>obtained within ten (10) days after delivery. The specimen of blood shall be <br>submitted to the laboratory of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or a <br>laboratory approved by the cabinet for the purpose of having made a serological test <br>for syphilis. The test shall be of a type approved by the Cabinet for Health and <br>Family Services. (2) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall, as often as necessary, publish a list of the five (5) most frequently abused substances, including alcohol, by pregnant <br>women in the Commonwealth. Any physician and any other person legally <br>permitted to engage in attendance upon a pregnant woman in this state may perform <br>a screening for alcohol or substance dependency or abuse, including a <br>comprehensive history of such behavior. Any physician may administer a <br>toxicology test to a pregnant woman under the physician's care within eight (8) <br>hours after delivery to determine whether there is evidence that she has ingested <br>alcohol, a controlled substance, or a substance identified on the list provided by the <br>cabinet, or if the woman has obstetrical complications that are a medical indication <br>of possible use of any such substance for a nonmedical purpose. (3) Any physician or person legally permitted to engage in attendance upon a pregnant woman may administer to each newborn infant born under that person's care a <br>toxicology test to determine whether there is evidence of prenatal exposure to <br>alcohol, a controlled substance, or a substance identified on the list provided by the <br>Cabinet for Health and Family Services, if the attending person has reason to <br>believe, based on a medical assessment of the mother or the infant, that the mother <br>used any such substance for a nonmedical purpose during the pregnancy. (4) The circumstances surrounding any positive toxicology finding shall be evaluated by the attending person to determine if abuse or neglect of the infant, as defined <br>under KRS 600.020(1), has occurred and whether investigation by the Cabinet for <br>Health and Family Services is necessary. (5) No prenatal screening for alcohol or other substance abuse or positive toxicology finding shall be used as prosecutorial evidence. (6) No person shall conduct or cause to be conducted any toxicological test pursuant to this section on any pregnant woman without first informing the pregnant woman of <br>the purpose of the test. (7) Every physician or other person legally permitted to engage in attendance upon a pregnant woman in the Commonwealth shall take or cause to be taken from the <br>woman a specimen of blood which shall be submitted for the purpose of serologic testing for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen to a laboratory certified by the <br>United States Department for Health and Human Services pursuant to Section 333 <br>of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. sec. 263a), as revised by the Clinical <br>Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), Pub.L. 100-578. Effective: June 20, 2005 <br>History: Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 99, sec. 451, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 79, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998; and ch. 426, sec. 398, effective <br>July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 442, sec. 3, effective July 14, 1992. -- <br>Amended 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 146, sec. 1, effective June 15, 1982. -- Recodified 1942 <br>Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 2062b-5.