Congress passed legislation establishing national newborn screening guidelines intended to make comprehensive screening widely available throughout the country.
While not a mandate, the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007 (S 1858/HR 3825 [http://thomas.loc.gov]) is intended to increase the use of comprehensive and standardized newborn screening tests. The federal government estimates that annually about 5000 of the 4.1 million US newborns (1 in 800) are born with a potentially severe or lethal condition for which screening and treatment could prevent many or all of the complications. Proponents of the legislation have argued that it is needed as the number of mandated screening tests for newborns at the state level can be as few as 9.
The bill, expected to be signed into law by President George W. Bush, also provides federal funding to educate parents and health care professionals about the importance of newborn screening. Another . . . [Full Text of this Article]
