Requires primary care physicians to post certain information detailing how parents or guardians of infants and children can subscribe to the United States consumer product safety commission's e-mail subscription lists.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A103
SPONSOR: Dinowitz (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring primary
care physicians to post certain information detailing how parents or
guardians of infants and children can subscribe to the United States
consumer product safety commission's e-mail subscription lists
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to increase parents' awareness of recalls
involving children's products.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill adds Title 9 to Article 25 of the public health
law regarding recall subscription information. § 2997-e would require
primary care physicians to prominently post in a location near the
office area designated for the receipt of payment a notice designed by
the Department of Health containing information detailing how parents or
guardians of infants and children can subscribe to the United States
Consumer Product Safety Commission's e-mail subscription lists to
receive consumer product recall and safety news by e-mail. The notice
would be made available to primary care physicians by the Department on
its website and would be provided in English, as well as in the six
languages other than English most frequently spoken in the State accord-
ing to the United States Census Bureau. And upon request from a primary
care physician, any other language spoken by a significant number of
people within the community served by such physician.
Section two of the bill sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In recent years, hundreds of products designed to protect, educate, and
amuse our children have been subject to safety recalls. While these
recalls are often publicized in news reports, if a parent happens to
skip over an article or report regarding a recall, the lives of their
children could be endangered. According to testimony received at the
October 31, 2011 Assembly public hearing on child product safety, recall
awareness and response rates remain stubbornly low, despite increased
media attention. A representative of Consumers Union stated that the
best way to improve recall response rates is to disseminate recall
information directly to consumers. Fortunately, the United States
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has established an e-mail
alert system that notifies parents when a children's product has been
recalled. This bill would help to keep New York's children safe from
potentially hazardous products by increasing parents' awareness of the
CPSC's e-mail alert system.
Similar to enacted legislation requiring hospitals and birth centers to
distribute information concerning the CPSC's e-mail alert system to new
mothers (Chapter 539 of the Laws of 2010), this bill would require the
Department of Health to design the notice and make it available on its
website. Medical office staff-would be able to print the notice from the
Department's website and post it in the reception area, resulting in
minimal costs to physicians.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A.670 -Consumer Affairs and Protection / S.686 -Health
2021-22: A.1465 -Consumer Affairs and Protection / S.2750- Health
2019-20: A.2631 -Reported to Rules / S.3583 - Health
2017-18: A.5236 -Third Reading Calendar
2015-16: A.1901 -Third Reading Calendar
2013-14: A.375 -Passed Assembly / S.3184 - Health
2011-12: A.8919-B- Passed Assembly / S.6269A - Health
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after which
it shall have become a law and authorizes and directs that the addition,
amendment, and/or repeal of any rule or regulation which is necessary
for the implementation of this act on its effective date be made and
completed by the commissioner of health on or before such effective
date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
103
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ, PAULIN, ROSENTHAL, WEPRIN, SEAWRIGHT --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. COOK -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring primary
care physicians to post certain information detailing how parents or
guardians of infants and children can subscribe to the United States
consumer product safety commission's e-mail subscription lists
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Article 25 of the public health law is amended by adding a
2 new title 9 to read as follows:
3 TITLE IX
4 RECALL SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
5 Section 2599-e. Physician posting of recall subscription information.
6 § 2599-e. Physician posting of recall subscription information. 1. As
7 used in this section, "primary care physician" means a physician
8 specialist in the field of family practice, general pediatrics, primary
9 care internal medicine or primary care obstetrics and gynecology, who
10 provides coordinated primary care services.
11 2. The commissioner shall require that every primary care physician
12 post in a place or places, clearly visible to all persons, adjacent to
13 or near the location such primary care physician has designated for the
14 receipt of payment, an informational notice. Such notice shall be
15 designed by the commissioner in conjunction with the secretary of state
16 and shall contain information detailing how parents or guardians of
17 infants and children can subscribe to the United States consumer product
18 safety commission's e-mail subscription lists to receive consumer prod-
19 uct recall and safety news by e-mail from the United States consumer
20 product safety commission and such other material as deemed appropriate
21 by the commissioner. Such notice shall be made available to primary care
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00877-01-5
A. 103 2
1 physicians by the department on its website and shall be provided in
2 English, as well as in the six languages other than English most
3 frequently spoken in the state according to the latest available data
4 from the United States Census Bureau and upon request from a primary
5 care physician, any other language spoken by a significant number of
6 people within the community served by such primary care physician. A
7 primary care physician shall post such notice in English and in any
8 other language spoken by significant numbers of people within the commu-
9 nity such physician serves.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
11 it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
12 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
13 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
14 authorized and directed to be made and completed by the commissioner of
15 health on or before such effective date.
