Bill > AB1129

This bill aims to enhance California's birth defects monitoring program by expanding its scope and providing local health officers with more flexibility in collecting and using health information. The bill defines "conditions" as health disorders occurring within the first 12 months after a person's birth, and allows local health officers to establish systems for collecting information about birth defects and related conditions. Specifically, the bill authorizes local health officers to require healthcare providers and laboratories to report or make available medical records related to birth defects, and to use this information to conduct studies investigating the causes of birth defects, stillbirths, and miscarriages. The legislation includes strict confidentiality provisions to protect patient information, ensuring that collected data can only be used for specific public health research purposes and cannot be disclosed in legal proceedings. The bill also exempts certain umbilical cord and pregnancy blood samples collected by local health jurisdictions from existing state storage requirements, and establishes guidelines for how such information can be collected, stored, and potentially used for research. By providing more comprehensive and flexible monitoring capabilities, the bill seeks to improve understanding of birth defects and potentially develop strategies for prevention.

Budget and Finance, Health and Social Services

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1129