STAND. COM. REP. NO. 807

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1750

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 1750 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to protect children by ensuring that parents and caregivers are fully informed of the dangerous effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome.

     This measure accomplishes this purpose by requiring hospitals and public health facilities to provide each parent of a newborn with written educational information on Shaken Baby Syndrome and prevention methods.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Prevent Child Abuse Hawaii, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, Kapi‘olani Child-at-Risk Evaluation Program, the Department of Neurosurgery at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and three individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department Of Health and the Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

     Your Committee finds that Shaken Baby Syndrome is a serious and preventable condition for which information is important for all parents and caregivers.  However, your Committee finds that effective education comes in many forms and that Shaken Baby Syndrome is only one of many critical infant care issues that require education and prevention.

     Your Committee amended this measure by removing the mandate, and providing instead that hospitals and public health facilities may provide the educational information in their discretion.

     Your Committee further amended this measure by removing the reference to Prevent Child Abuse Hawaii and replaced it with "nonprofit organizations".

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1750, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1750, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair