Existing law requires the State Public Health Officer to maintain a system for the collection of information related to birth defects, as specified. Existing law requires the officer to require general acute care hospitals and physician-owned or physician-operated clinics that regularly provide services for the diagnosis or treatment of birth defects, genetic counseling, or prenatal diagnostic services to make available to the department the medical records of children suspected or diagnosed as having birth defects, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into a contract for the establishment and implementation of the birth defects monitoring program.
This bill would authorize a local health officer to maintain a system for the collection of information related to birth defects and other birth anomalies. The bill would authorize a local health officer to require laboratories, as specified, in addition to the facilities listed above, to either make available or to transmit to the local health department birth defects and other birth anomalies information, as specified. The bill would authorize a local health officer to enter into contracts for implementation of programs to collect and monitor birth anomalies in their jurisdiction.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to collect and store any umbilical cord blood samples it receives from hospitals for storage and research and states the intent of the Legislature that pregnancy blood samples be stored and made available to any researcher who is approved by the department for specified purposes.
This bill would exempt umbilical cord and pregnancy blood samples collected under the supervision of a local health officer in a local health jurisdiction for the purpose of monitoring birth defects or other birth anomalies or for other purposes from the provisions described above.

Statutes affected:
AB 1129: 103825 HSC, 103835 HSC, 103840 HSC, 103845 HSC, 103850 HSC, 103855 HSC, 124977 HSC, 124991 HSC, 125002 HSC
02/20/25 - Introduced: 103825 HSC, 103835 HSC, 103840 HSC, 103845 HSC, 103850 HSC, 103855 HSC, 124977 HSC, 124991 HSC, 125002 HSC