ASSEMBLY, No. 2690

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 1, 2018

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  PAMELA R. LAMPITT

District 6 (Burlington and Camden)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Requires vitamin K to be administered to newborns within six hours of birth.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


An Act concerning newborns and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    The Commissioner of Health shall require that vitamin K be administered to each newborn born in the State within six hours of birth by the health care professional responsible for providing care to the newborn.  The vitamin K shall be administered in accordance with current standards of medical care, and shall be administered intramuscularly or by such other means of administration as may be approved by the commissioner.  The administration of vitamin K shall be documented in the newborn’s medical record.

 

     2.    The Commissioner of Health shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), necessary to carry out the purposes of this act.

 

     3.    This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill requires the Commissioner of Health to require that vitamin K be administered to each newborn born in the State within six hours of birth by the health care professional responsible for providing care to the newborn.  The vitamin K is to be administered in accordance with current standards of medical care, and is to be administered intramuscularly or by an alternate means approved by the commissioner. The administration of vitamin K is to be documented in the newborn’s medical record.

     Vitamin K is a vital nutrient needed for blood to clot normally.  Babies are born with very little vitamin K in their bodies, and in the first few months of life are not able to produce their own vitamin K or absorb significant amounts from their mother’s breast milk.  Infants who do not receive vitamin K at birth are estimated to be 81 times more likely to develop vitamin K deficiency bleeding, or VKDB, which is uncontrolled bleeding that can occur anywhere in the body, including the intestines and brain, and in severe cases can result in brain damage or death.  Over the last two decades, the widespread administration of vitamin K at birth has been associated with a significant reduction in reported cases of VKDB.