BILL NUMBER: S686
SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring primary
care physicians to post certain information detailing how parents or
guardians of infants and children can subscribe to the United States
consumer product safety commission's e-mail subscription lists
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to increase parents' awareness of recalls
involving children's products.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill amends the Public Health Law by adding a new
section, 2997-e which would require primary care physicians to promi-
nently post in a location near the office area designated for the
receipt of payment .a notice designed by the Department of Health
containing information detailing how parents or guardians of infants and
children can subscribe to the United States Consumer Product Safety
Commission's e-mail subscription lists to receive consumer product
recall and safety news by e-mail. The notice would be made available to
primary care physicians by the Department on its website and would be
provided in English, as well as in the six languages other than English
most frequently spoken in the State according to the United States
Census Bureau. And upon request from a primary care physician, any other
language spoken by a significant number of people within the community
served by such physician. Section 2 of this bill sets the effective
date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In recent years, hundreds of products designed to protect, educate, and
amuse our children have been subject to safety recalls. While these
recalls are often publicized in news reports, if a parent happens to
skip over an article or report regarding a recall, the lives of their
children could be endangered. According to testimony received at the
October 31, 2011 Assembly public hearing on child product safety, recall
awareness and response rates remain stubbornly low, despite increased
media attention. A representative of Consumers Union stated that the
best way to improve recall response rates is to disseminate recall
information directly to consumers. Fortunately, the United States
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has established an e-mail
alert system that notifies parents when a children's product has been
recalled. This bill would help to keep New York's children safe from
potentially hazardous products by increasing parents' awareness of the
CPSC's e-mail alert system. Similar to recently enacted legislation
requiring hospitals and birth centers to distribute information concern-
ing the CPSC's e-mail alert system to new mothers (Chapter 539 of the
Laws of 2010), this bill would require the Department o f Health to
design the notice and make it available on its website. Medical office
staff-would be able to print the notice from the Department's website
and post it in the reception area, resulting in minimal costs to physi-
cians.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: S2750- referred to health
2019-20- A.2631 - Reported referred to Rules/S.3583 - Referred to Health
2017-18- A.5236 Advanced to Third Reading 2015-16- A.1901- Advanced To
Third Reading
2013-14- A.375- Passed Assembly/S.3184Referred to Health
2011-12- A.8919B- Passed Assembly/S.6269A - Referred to Health
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None to the State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
120 Days.