Florida Senate - 2010                                     SB 222
       
       
       
       By Senator Ring
       
       
       
       
       32-00049B-10                                           2010222__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to childhood vaccinations; amending s.
    3         1003.22, F.S.; requiring a pediatrician or attending
    4         physician to discuss the risks, benefits, and
    5         alternatives of each vaccination before a child is
    6         vaccinated; providing requirements for the
    7         administration of certain vaccines required for school
    8         entry; requiring licensed health care providers to
    9         provide certain vaccine information statements to
   10         parents, legal guardians, and legal representatives
   11         before administering certain vaccines to children;
   12         requiring health care providers to obtain a signed
   13         statement from parents, legal guardians, and legal
   14         representatives documenting that the vaccine
   15         information statements have been provided; specifying
   16         the required contents of the signed statement;
   17         requiring health care providers to record the batch
   18         and lot number of each vaccine on the signed
   19         statement; requiring health care providers to maintain
   20         certain records; providing for application of the act
   21         to certain vaccine information statements; authorizing
   22         the use of a single signed statement for the
   23         administration of multiple vaccines under certain
   24         circumstances; amending ss. 381.003 and 1002.42, F.S.;
   25         conforming cross-references; providing an effective
   26         date.
   27  
   28  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   29  
   30         Section 1. Present subsections (6) through (11) of section
   31  1003.22, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (8)
   32  through (13), respectively, and new subsections (6) and (7) are
   33  added to that section, to read:
   34         1003.22 School-entry health examinations; immunization
   35  against communicable diseases; exemptions; duties of Department
   36  of Health.—
   37         (6)Before vaccinating a child, a pediatrician or attending
   38  physician must discuss the risks, benefits, and alternatives of
   39  each vaccination recommended for the child by the Centers for
   40  Disease Control and Prevention of the United States Department
   41  of Health and Human Services. Pursuant to s. 1003.22, a child
   42  must commence the required vaccination schedule before beginning
   43  kindergarten or initial entry into public or private school,
   44  whichever occurs earlier.
   45         (7)(a)Before administering a vaccine for an immunization
   46  required by this section, a licensed health care provider must:
   47         1.Provide to the child’s parent, legal guardian, or other
   48  legal representative a copy of the current vaccine information
   49  statement published about the vaccine by the Centers for Disease
   50  Control and Prevention.
   51         2.Obtain a signed statement from the child’s parent, legal
   52  guardian, or other legal representative in substantially the
   53  following form:
   54  
   55  I have received a copy of the vaccine information statement
   56  published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I
   57  have read or have had explained to me information about the
   58  vaccine to be administered, the benefits and risks of the
   59  vaccine, how to report an adverse reaction, the availability of
   60  the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, and how to
   61  obtain more information about childhood diseases and vaccines. I
   62  understand the benefits of the vaccine and ask that the vaccine
   63  be administered to ...(name of child)..., for whom I am
   64  authorized to make this request.
   65  Signature: ...(signature)....
   66  Name: ...(printed name of parent, legal guardian,
   67  or other legal representative)....
   68  Date: ...(date)....
   69  
   70         3.Record a notation on the statement of the batch and lot
   71  number for each vaccine administered to the child.
   72         (b)The health care provider shall maintain a copy of the
   73  signed statement in the child’s permanent medical record.
   74         (c)This subsection applies to each vaccine information
   75  statement published by the Centers for Disease Control and
   76  Prevention, regardless of whether the statement is covered by
   77  the federal National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, 42
   78  U.S.C. s. 300aa-26. If the Centers for Disease Control and
   79  Prevention publish a vaccine information statement that covers
   80  multiple vaccines, the health care provider may have the child’s
   81  parent, legal guardian, or other legal representative sign a
   82  single statement for all of the vaccines covered by the vaccine
   83  information statement.
   84         Section 2. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section
   85  381.003, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   86         381.003 Communicable disease and AIDS prevention and
   87  control.—
   88         (1) The department shall conduct a communicable disease
   89  prevention and control program as part of fulfilling its public
   90  health mission. A communicable disease is any disease caused by
   91  transmission of a specific infectious agent, or its toxic
   92  products, from an infected person, an infected animal, or the
   93  environment to a susceptible host, either directly or
   94  indirectly. The communicable disease program must include, but
   95  need not be limited to:
   96         (e) Programs for the prevention and control of vaccine
   97  preventable diseases, including programs to immunize school
   98  children as required by s. 1003.22 s. 1003.22(3)-(11) and the
   99  development of an automated, electronic, and centralized
  100  database or registry of immunizations. The department shall
  101  ensure that all children in this state are immunized against
  102  vaccine-preventable diseases. The immunization registry shall
  103  allow the department to enhance current immunization activities
  104  for the purpose of improving the immunization of all children in
  105  this state.
  106         1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2., the department
  107  shall include all children born in this state in the
  108  immunization registry by using the birth records from the Office
  109  of Vital Statistics. The department shall add other children to
  110  the registry as immunization services are provided.
  111         2. The parent or guardian of a child may refuse to have the
  112  child included in the immunization registry by signing a form
  113  obtained from the department, or from the health care
  114  practitioner or entity that provides the immunization, which
  115  indicates that the parent or guardian does not wish to have the
  116  child included in the immunization registry. The decision to not
  117  participate in the immunization registry must be noted in the
  118  registry.
  119         3. The immunization registry shall allow for immunization
  120  records to be electronically transferred to entities that are
  121  required by law to have such records, including schools,
  122  licensed child care facilities, and any other entity that is
  123  required by law to obtain proof of a child’s immunizations.
  124         4. Any health care practitioner licensed under chapter 458,
  125  chapter 459, or chapter 464 in this state who complies with
  126  rules adopted by the department to access the immunization
  127  registry may, through the immunization registry, directly access
  128  immunization records and update a child’s immunization history
  129  or exchange immunization information with another authorized
  130  practitioner, entity, or agency involved in a child’s care. The
  131  information included in the immunization registry must include
  132  the child’s name, date of birth, address, and any other unique
  133  identifier necessary to correctly identify the child; the
  134  immunization record, including the date, type of administered
  135  vaccine, and vaccine lot number; and the presence or absence of
  136  any adverse reaction or contraindication related to the
  137  immunization. Information received by the department for the
  138  immunization registry retains its status as confidential medical
  139  information and the department must maintain the confidentiality
  140  of that information as otherwise required by law. A health care
  141  practitioner or other agency that obtains information from the
  142  immunization registry must maintain the confidentiality of any
  143  medical records in accordance with s. 456.057 or as otherwise
  144  required by law.
  145         Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (6) of section
  146  1002.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  147         1002.42 Private schools.—
  148         (6) IMMUNIZATIONS.—The governing authority of each private
  149  school shall:
  150         (a) Require students to present a certification of
  151  immunization in accordance with the provisions of s. 1003.22 s.
  152  1003.22(3)-(11).
  153         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.