1. The State Board of Health, upon the recommendation of the Chief Medical Officer, shall:

(a) Adopt regulations governing examinations and tests required for the discovery in infants of preventable or inheritable disorders, including tests for the presence of sickle cell disease and its variants and sickle cell trait; and

(b) Require the Division to provide for the services of a laboratory in accordance with NRS 442.009 when necessary to determine the presence of certain preventable or inheritable disorders in an infant pursuant to this section.

2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, the regulations adopted pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection 1 concerning tests for the presence of sickle cell disease and its variants and sickle cell trait must require the screening for sickle cell disease and its variants and sickle cell trait of:

(a) Each newborn child who is susceptible to sickle cell disease and its variants and sickle cell trait as determined by regulations of the State Board of Health; and

(b) Each biological parent of a child who wishes to undergo such screening.

3. Any physician, midwife, nurse, obstetric center or hospital of any nature attending or assisting in any way any infant, or the mother of any infant, at childbirth shall make or cause to be made an examination of the infant, including standard tests, to the extent required by regulations of the State Board of Health as is necessary for the discovery of conditions indicating such disorders.

4. If the examination and tests reveal the existence of such conditions in an infant, the physician, midwife, nurse, obstetric center or hospital attending or assisting at the birth of the infant shall immediately:

(a) Report the condition to the Chief Medical Officer or the representative of the Chief Medical Officer, the local health officer of the county or city within which the infant or the mother of the infant resides, and the local health officer of the county or city in which the child is born; and

(b) Discuss the condition with the parent, parents or other persons responsible for the care of the infant and inform them of the treatment necessary for the amelioration of the condition.

5. An infant is exempt from examination and testing if either parent files a written objection with the person or institution responsible for making the examination or tests.

6. As used in this section, “sickle cell disease and its variants” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 439.4927.

(Added to NRS by 1967, 208; A 1977, 114, 960; 1989, 1893; 1999, 1062, 3511; 2011, 461; 2019, 2161)