Michigan committee hears testimony on bill to add CMV to newborn screening

At a meeting of the Michigan House Rules Committee, members heard testimony on House Bill 4,402, which would add congenital cytomegalovirus, commonly called CMV, to the list of conditions screened for at birth.

The bill’s sponsor and medical experts told the committee that CMV is common and can cause lifelong disabilities, including hearing loss, and that adding CMV to the newborn screening panel would allow earlier diagnosis and, for some infants, antiviral treatment with the best results if started before about a month of age. Committee members asked about potential fiscal impacts and whether the Newborn Screening Quality Assurance Committee should evaluate CMV before statutory action.

Representative Vanderwall, who presented the bill, said CMV “affects 1 out of every hundred and 50 babies born, and about 1 fifth of those develop lifelong health problems,” and argued the test can be done using the same specimen already collected for other newborn screens. He described the bill as adding CMV to the list of conditions screened at birth and requiring the…