Birth defects monitoring.

Assembly Member Celeste Rodriguez's birth defects monitoring legislation expands local health departments' authority to collect and analyze data on birth defects and early childhood conditions. The bill authorizes local health officers to establish monitoring systems within their jurisdictions, either supplementing state efforts or operating independently where state programs are not active.

The legislation defines conditions as disorders occurring within 12 months after birth that align with federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria or qualify for California Children's Services Program eligibility. Local health officers may require hospitals, clinics, laboratories and other healthcare providers to share relevant medical records or transmit specified data. The bill maintains existing confidentiality protections while extending them to cover the additional conditions being monitored.

To support these expanded monitoring capabilities, the bill creates new special funds and fee structures. It establishes the Birth Defects Monitoring Program Fund and Cord Blood Banking Fund, funded through prenatal screening fees and researcher access charges. Local health officers gain authority to enter contracts for implementing monitoring programs in their jurisdictions, with requirements to consider cost-effective data collection methods.

The legislation also modifies rules around blood sample collection and research access. While the state program must continue storing umbilical cord blood samples for research, samples collected under local health officer supervision are exempt from these requirements. Researchers seeking to use stored samples must meet enhanced protocols, including individual consent, scientific merit review, and human subjects protection approval.