Bill > S1763

Introduced Session

This bill requires the Commissioner of Health to establish a public awareness campaign to advise pregnant women, new parents, and women who are breast feeding their children about the dangers of casual milk sharing. As defined in the bill, "casual milk sharing" is an informal arrangement in which a mother directly donates human breast milk that has not been collected, processed, distributed, or sold by a human milk bank to a parent who is unable to nurse, or is in need of additional breast milk to feed, the parent's child. The bill also defines "human milk bank" as an organized service that provides for the selection of a donor and the collection, processing, storage, and marketing of donated human breast milk, and the distribution of donated human breast milk to a hospital for use by low birth weight babies or new mothers with delayed lactation, or directly to a parent, with a physician's prescription order, who is unable to nurse, or is in need of additional breast milk to feed, the parent's child. Under the provisions of the bill, the campaign would, at a minimum, provide information on: risk factors associated with casual milk sharing, including disease transmission and contamination from drugs, germs, or chemicals, and risk factors associated with obtaining milk from Internet sources; the federal Food and Drug Administration's warning against mothers using donated sources; and human milk banks and the procedures they use to select donors and collect, process, store, dispense, or sell donated breast milk. The commissioner would be required to: develop printed materials about casual milk sharing in English, Spanish, and any other language that the commissioner determines is the first language of a significant number of citizens in the State; disseminate information on the dangers of casual milk sharing for distribution to pregnant women, new parents, and women who are breast feeding their children through entities, including, but not limited to, local health agencies and clinics, physicians, health care facilities, pharmacies, libraries, community-based outreach programs and organizations, and the Department of Health Internet site; and report to the Governor and the Legislature, no later than 18 months after the effective date of bill, on the activities and accomplishments of the public awareness campaign.

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Loretta Weinberg (D)*, 

Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Hearing (19:00 12/12/2019 S4282 Vitale (pend intro & ref) Provides for establishment of Re) (on 12/12/2019)