Lawmakers heard more than two hours of testimony on House Bill 12‑49 and Senate Bill 8‑05 on Wednesday, as parents, clinicians and patient‑advocacy groups urged the Joint Committee on Financial Services to require routine screening for PANS (Pediatric Acute‑onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) and PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections) in medical and clinical settings.

Proponents said the bills would require clinicians in primary care, emergency departments and other clinical settings to screen children and adolescents who present with sudden onset neuropsychiatric symptoms — such as severe anxiety, obsessive‑compulsive behaviors, tics, eating restrictions or marked loss of school functioning — and, when appropriate, order targeted laboratory testing to rule in or out an infection‑triggered, immune‑mediated cause.

Supporters framed the measure as a straightforward public‑health step. “We formed in 2019 to turn diagnosis from luck into everyday practice,” said Jennifer Vitale, co‑leader of the Massachusetts Coalition for PANDAS/PANS legislation. She urged lawmakers to make screening routine so “no child or young adult with PANDAS/PANS is missed again.”

Clinicians and researchers described short, evidence‑informed screeners and standard lab panels they said could be implemented quickly at point of care. Margaret Chapman, a clinical nurse specialist who runs the PAND Center in Weymouth, told the committee a nine‑question caregiver screener fits into office workflows and is shorter than autism screeners already required in Massachusetts. “If the screen is positive, the provider would order standardized lab tests,” Chapman said, adding that early treatment usually is less intensive and less costly than delayed care.

Multiple families described long trajectories of misdiagnosis and repeated inpatient psychiatric care before a PANS/PANDAS diagnosis led to targeted medical treatment. “For 6 long years, my family searched for answers while my childhood slipped away,” said Sam Crowley, 17, who testified about onset at age 3 and subsequent years of schooling interruptions and hospitalizations. Brooke Lynch, who described years of misdiagnosis and multiple inpatient stays, said IVIG and other immunomodulatory treatments have helped but “we caught it too late for them to fully work.”

Public‑health and clinical witnesses pushed back on common objections. Peggy Chapman and other clinicians testified that screening is inexpensive and that early medical therapy — frequently antibiotics and anti‑inflammatory medications — can prevent prolonged, high‑cost psychiatric care in many cases. Several speakers referenced examples where targeted treatment averted additional hospitalizations and long‑term disability; one parent said state payments for psychiatric hospitalization for children can exceed $1,900 per day and that earlier screening likely would have avoided multiple stays for that family.

The department of public health advisory council members and clinicians emphasized training and care pathways. Senator Patrick O’Connor (sponsor of companion legislation) and other legislators who testified said they view the bill as the logical next step after prior legislation that mandated coverage for certain PANS/PANDAS treatments earlier in the session.

Opponents were not prominent in the hearing record; the committee also heard from clinicians who noted implementation details that will require coordination — for example, standardized laboratory panels and guidance for emergency departments and pediatricians. Proponents offered that the DPH advisory council, already established under earlier law, could help with clinical criteria and educational materials.

Supporters asked the committee to send the bills forward as written so screening becomes part of routine practice and stops families from losing years to misdiagnosis and delayed treatment. “A favorable report saves lives, reduces suffering, and ensures that no child in the Commonwealth is ever missed again,” Vitale said.

The committee did not take a vote at the close of testimony. Lawmakers and advocates agreed there will need to be implementation work with the Department of Public Health to define a final screening instrument, lab panels and educational supports for clinicians.