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Families of two student athletes urge mandatory EKG screenings in Massachusetts hearing
Summary
Families of two teens who died after sudden cardiac events told the Joint Committee on Financial Services that a brief EKG added to athletic physicals could detect hidden heart conditions. Sponsors said the bill (H.B. 4622, “Freddie’s Law”) would start pilot screening programs and work with the Department of Public Health and MIAA.
Representative Thomas Walsh introduced H.B. 4622, called “Freddie’s Law,” as a late‑file bill aimed at adding an electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) to pre‑participation physicals for high‑school athletes.
The bill’s advocates centered personal testimony. “A test that takes only a few minutes,” Adele Labonte said of an EKG while describing the sudden cardiac arrest that took her son, Freddie Espinel. Labonte told the committee she believes a screening would have detected a hidden condition and pleaded for insurance coverage and statewide screening access.
Jason and Melissa Facey testified about their son JJ, who died two days after his first college practice in August 2024. Jason described the episode, the hospital care and the screening…
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