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144.125 TESTS OF INFANTS FOR HERITABLE AND CONGENITAL DISORDERS.
    Subdivision 1. Duty to perform testing. It is the duty of (1) the administrative officer or
other person in charge of each institution caring for infants 28 days or less of age, (2) the person
required in pursuance of the provisions of section 144.215, to register the birth of a child, or (3)
the nurse midwife or midwife in attendance at the birth, to arrange to have administered to every
infant or child in its care tests for heritable and congenital disorders according to subdivision 2
and rules prescribed by the state commissioner of health. Testing and the recording and reporting
of test results shall be performed at the times and in the manner prescribed by the commissioner
of health. The commissioner shall charge a fee so that the total of fees collected will approximate
the costs of conducting the tests and implementing and maintaining a system to follow-up infants
with heritable or congenital disorders, including hearing loss detected through the early hearing
detection and intervention program under section 144.966. The fee is $101 per specimen. Costs
associated with capital expenditures and the development of new procedures may be prorated
over a three-year period when calculating the amount of the fees.
    Subd. 2. Determination of tests to be administered. The commissioner shall periodically
revise the list of tests to be administered for determining the presence of a heritable or congenital
disorder. Revisions to the list shall reflect advances in medical science, new and improved testing
methods, or other factors that will improve the public health. In determining whether a test must be
administered, the commissioner shall take into consideration the adequacy of analytical methods
to detect the heritable or congenital disorder, the ability to treat or prevent medical conditions
caused by the heritable or congenital disorder, and the severity of the medical conditions caused
by the heritable or congenital disorder. The list of tests to be performed may be revised if the
changes are recommended by the advisory committee established under section 144.1255,
approved by the commissioner, and published in the State Register. The revision is exempt from
the rulemaking requirements in chapter 14, and sections 14.385 and 14.386do not apply.
    Subd. 3. Objection of parents to test. Persons with a duty to perform testing under
subdivision 1 shall advise parents of infants (1) that the blood or tissue samples used to perform
testing thereunder as well as the results of such testing may be retained by the Department of
Health, (2) the benefit of retaining the blood or tissue sample, and (3) that the following options
are available to them with respect to the testing: (i) to decline to have the tests, or (ii) to elect to
have the tests but to require that all blood samples and records of test results be destroyed within
24 months of the testing. If the parents of an infant object in writing to testing for heritable and
congenital disorders or elect to require that blood samples and test results be destroyed, the
objection or election shall be recorded on a form that is signed by a parent or legal guardian
and made part of the infant's medical record. A written objection exempts an infant from the
requirements of this section and section 144.128.
History: 1965 c 205 s 1; 1977 c 305 s 45; 1Sp1981 c 4 art 1 s 75; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1986
c 444; 1988 c 689 art 2 s 31; 1994 c 636 art 2 s 2; 1997 c 203 art 2 s 11; 1997 c 205 s 19;
1Sp2003 c 14 art 7 s 26; 2007 c 147 art 16 s 7

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes