BILL NUMBER: S6415

SPONSOR: HARCKHAM
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
the reporting of lyme and tick-borne disease infection after death

 
PURPOSE:

Relates to reporting Lyme and tick-borne disease infections after death

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends the public health law to add a new section 2799 to
require that if a coroner, pathologist, medical examiner, or other
person qualified to conduct an examination of a deceased person discov-
ers that at the time of death the individual was afflicted with Lyme or
other tick-borne diseases they shall report the case promptly to the
Health Department.

Section 2: Establishes the effective date.

              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In August 2017, the Senate Task Force on Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases,
in conjunction with the Senate Standing Committee on Health conducted a
public hearing regarding the public health threats posed by Lyme and
tick-borne diseases in New York State. In part, the hearing was prompted
by recent infections and deaths in Upstate counties of Powassan virus, a
deadly tick-borne infection that has continued to be identified through
surveillance by the Health Department.

At the hearing, the Commissioner of Health and other Department staff
indicated that the current statistics on Lyme and tick-borne diseases
may undercount the total number of deaths because these infections
exacerbate pre-existing conditions and may not be listed as the precipi-
tating cause of death. Nevertheless, these infections seriously compro-
mise patient health and have been noted by public health authorities to
pose fatal risks. As such, it is important that in cases where Lyme and
other tick-borne illnesses underlie the primary cause of death, such
cases are reported as infections to the Health Department for appropri-
ate surveillance and statistical accounting.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.