Authorizes and directs the commissioner of health to designate HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 communicable diseases; requires reporting of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 cases to the department of health; creates educational materials about the virus.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A2762
SPONSOR: Tague
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to authorize and direct the commissioner of health to designate
HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 communicable diseases; and to amend the public health
law, in relation to the HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 viruses
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This legislation authorizes and directs the Commissioner of Health to
include HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 in the list of communicable diseases in the
New York Sanitary Code and to develop, produce, and make available,
educational materials on the disease.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of this legislation authorizes and directs the Commissioner
of Health to include HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 in the list of communicable
diseases in the New York State Sanitary Code.
Section two amends Article 21 of the Public Health Law by adding a new
Title 9 which describes reporting requirements for certain medical
professionals who determine that a person is infected with HTLV-1 or
HTLV-2. Title 9 also directs the Commissioner of Health to develop,
produce, and make available to physicians, other health care providers,
and persons at high-risk for HTLV-1 and HTLV-2, educational materials in
written and electronic forms, on the diagnosis, treatment, and
prevention of the disease.
Section three provides for an effective date of 120 days after it shall
have become law, provided that, effective immediately, the change of any
rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act
are authorized to ensure timely completion on or before such effective
date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 (Human T-Lymphotrophic Viruses) were the first retro-
viruses discovered, originally detected in the early 1980s but still
remain relatively unheard of today. Similar to HIV, HTLV can be trans-
mitted by sexual contact, by blood transfusion, by sharing contaminated
needles, and from mother to child, primarily through breastfeeding.
Symptoms develop subtly and can be mistaken for other conditions but
over the years the disease evolves chronically and can eventually lead
to immobility and loss of urinary and sensory functions.
Considered an endemic in the Caribbean, southern Japan, Africa, the
Middle East, South America, and Melanesia, the exact prevalence of HTLV
in the United States is still unknown. In the late 1980s, the United
States Food and Drug Administration issued a recommendation that all
blood donation centers in the Country screen for HTLV-1 and HTLV-2, with
all donors who were found to be infected, permanently deferred from
donating. By 1993, the Centers for Disease Control issued official
"Recommendations for Counseling Persons Infected with Human TLympho-
trophic Virus Types I and II" to provide current information to diseased
persons as well as guidelines for how to prevent transmission.
Since then, unfortunately little public health literature on HTLV has
been developed, produced, or disseminated, leaving the public uneducated
and unaware. Furthermore, only a few states in the Nation require the
reporting of positive cases of HTLV, preventing us from truly under-
standing the scope of this disease in the United States.
This legislation will ensure that populations at high-risk of contract-
ing HTLV will receive reliable information that discloses and explains
the disease and will also require medical professionals to report all
positives cases to the State so we can better understand the public
health impact in New York. By passing this bill, New York State will
take the first step in accurately determining prevalence, incidence, and
morbidity numbers of its citizens infected with HTLV and will be a model
for other steps to emulate.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: A.4215 held for consideration in Health
2021: A.4215 referred to Health
2020: A.5675 referred to Health
2019: A.5675 referred to Health
2017: A.7533 referred to Health
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
This bill does not require an appropriation and will have minimal finan-
cial implications, with the Commissioner of Health responsible for
promulgating all rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the
legislation.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the one hundred twenti-
eth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the
addition, amendment, and/or repeal of any rules and regulations neces-
sary to implement the provisions of this act on its effective date are
authorized to be completed on or before such effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2762
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 27, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. TAGUE, DeSTEFANO, MILLER, DURSO -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to authorize and direct the commissioner of health to designate
HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 communicable diseases; and to amend the public
health law, in relation to the HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 viruses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The commissioner of health is hereby authorized and
2 directed to include HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 in the list of communicable
3 diseases in the New York state sanitary code.
4 § 2. Article 21 of the public health law is amended by adding a new
5 title 9 to read as follows:
6 TITLE IX
7 HTLV-1 AND HTLV-2
8 Section 2185. HTLV-1 and HTLV-2; duty to report.
9 2186. HTLV-1 and HTLV-2; educational materials.
10 2187. Rules and regulations.
11 § 2185. HTLV-1 and HTLV-2; duty to report. 1. Every physician or other
12 person authorized by law to order diagnostic tests or make a medical
13 diagnosis, or any laboratory performing such tests shall immediately
14 upon (a) determination that a person is infected with HTLV-1 or HTLV-2,
15 and (b) periodic monitoring of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 infections by any labo-
16 ratory tests report such case or data to the commissioner within twen-
17 ty-four hours from the time the case is first seen. If a coroner,
18 pathologist, medical examiner, or other person qualified to conduct an
19 examination of a deceased person discovers that at the time of death the
20 individual was afflicted with HTLV-1 or HTLV-2, he or she shall report
21 the case within twenty-four hours to the commissioner as if the diagno-
22 sis had been established prior to death.
23 2. Reports required under this section shall contain such information
24 concerning the case as shall be required by the commissioner. These
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05768-01-3
A. 2762 2
1 reports shall contain, but need not be limited to, all medical informa-
2 tion required to establish accurate numbers for statewide prevalence,
3 rates of annual incidence, and morbidity and mortality rates.
4 3. All reports or information secured by the department under the
5 provisions of this title shall be confidential except: (a) in so far as
6 is necessary to carry out the provisions of this title; (b) when used in
7 the aggregate, without patient specific identifying information, in
8 programs approved by the commissioner for the improvement of the quality
9 of medical care provided to persons with HTLV-1 or HTLV-2; (c) when used
10 within the state or local health department by public health disease
11 programs to assess co-morbidity or completeness of reporting and to
12 direct program needs, in which case patient specific identifying infor-
13 mation shall not be disclosed outside the state or local health depart-
14 ment; or (d) when used for purposes of patient linkage and retention in
15 care, patient specific identified information may be shared between
16 local and state health departments and health care providers currently
17 treating the patient as approved by the commissioner.
18 § 2186. HTLV-1 and HTLV-2; educational materials. 1. The commissioner
19 shall develop, produce and make available to physicians, other health
20 care providers, and other persons at high risk for HTLV-1 and HTLV-2
21 educational materials, in written and electronic forms, on the diagno-
22 sis, treatment and prevention of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2. Such materials
23 shall be written in terms which are understandable by members of the
24 general public. Such materials shall include information and assistance
25 on where to find community support services, support groups, respite,
26 and care management. In instances in which viral typing is possible,
27 these materials shall direct to virus specific community support
28 services, support groups, respite, and care management as HTLV-1 and
29 HTLV-2 are two different retroviruses with differing epidemiologies and
30 disease associations requiring specific recommendations for persons
31 infected with HTLV-1 or HTLV-2.
32 2. These materials shall be made available to the public free of
33 charge. The commissioner shall make these materials available to clinics
34 that specialize in sexually transmitted diseases, health care facili-
35 ties, and department of corrections and community supervision facili-
36 ties.
37 3. The commissioner shall ensure that all information and materials
38 produced under this section are maintained and updated to reflect best
39 practice recommendations and are culturally and linguistically appropri-
40 ate for the communities the materials are made available to. The depart-
41 ment shall post the same information on its website.
42 § 2187. Rules and regulations. The commissioner shall promulgate such
43 rules and regulations as shall be necessary and proper to effectuate the
44 purposes of this title.
45 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
46 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
47 ment, and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary to implement the
48 provisions of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made
49 or completed on or before such effective date.