32.1-65 - Certain newborn screening required.
§ 32.1-65. Certain newborn screening required.
In order to prevent mental retardation and permanent disability or death,every infant who is born in the Commonwealth shall be subjected to screeningtests for various disorders consistent with, but not necessarily identicalto, the uniform condition panel recommended by the American College ofMedical Genetics in its report, Newborn Screening: Toward a Uniform ScreeningPanel and System, that was produced for the U.S. Department of Health andHuman Services. Further, upon the issuance of guidance for states' newbornscreening programs by the federal Department of Health and Human Services,every infant who is born in the Commonwealth shall be screened for a panel ofdisorders consistent with, but not necessarily identical to, the federalguidance document.
Any infant whose parent or guardian objects thereto on the grounds that suchtests conflict with his religious practices or tenets shall not be requiredto receive such screening tests.
The physician or certified nurse midwife in charge of the infant's care afterdelivery shall cause such tests to be performed. The screening tests shall beperformed by the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services or any otherlaboratory the Department of Health has contracted with to provide thisservice.
The program for screening infants for sickle cell diseases shall be conductedin addition to the programs provided for in Article 8 (§ 32.1-68 et seq.) ofthis chapter.
(Code 1950, §§ 32-112.1, 32-112.9; 1966, c. 179; 1979, c. 711; 1983, c. 582;1986, c. 172; 1988, c. 97; 1992, cc. 747, 873; 2001, c. 255; 2002, c. 440;2004, c. 760; 2005, cc. 717, 721.)