All 50 states and the District of Columbia now require that every newborn be screened for most life-threatening disorders, although Pennsylvania and West Virginia still are in the process of implementing their expanded programs, according to a report from the March of Dimes. State laws and rules vary, but all states require screening for 21 or more of the 29 serious genetic or functional disorders on the panel recommended by the American College of Medical Genetics, the March of Dimes said in its report. The screening laws and rules are a marked improvement over what they were 3 years ago, when the charity's report card found that only 38% of infants were born in states that required screening for 21 or more of the 29 “core” conditions. Now, 24 states and Washington, D.C., require screening for all 29 disorders, with more states expected to join them this year, the report said. “This is a sweeping advance for public health,” Dr. R. Rodney Howell, chairman of the Health and Human Services Secretary's Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children, said in a statement.
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