(a) During the postpartum period, before discharging a newborn child, a hospital shall provide parents with educational information on pertussis disease. The information provided to parents shall contain the following statement:
Pertussis, whooping cough, can cause serious illness in infants, children, and adults and can even be life-threatening, especially in infants. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most effective way to prevent pertussis is through vaccination of both children and parents. For more information on protecting your child by obtaining the pertussis vaccination please contact your physician, county health department, or the Alabama Department of Public Health.
(b) Nothing in this section shall require any hospital to provide or pay for any vaccination against pertussis.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to establish a standard of care for hospitals or physicians or otherwise modify, amend, or supersede any provision of the Alabama Medical Liability Act of 1987 or the Alabama Medical Liability Act of 1996, or any amendment thereto, or any judicial interpretation thereof.
(d) Physicians and hospitals, as hospitals are defined in Section 22-21-20, shall not have legal liability or responsibility for claims resulting from providing or failing to provide the pertussis information required pursuant to subsection (a).
Structure Code of Alabama
Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control.
Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally.
Chapter 20 - Miscellaneous Health Laws.
Section 22-20-1 - Use of Common Drinking Cups or Towels in Public Places Prohibited.
Section 22-20-2 - Prevention of Infantile Blindness.
Section 22-20-4 - Location and Extension of Cemeteries.
Section 22-20-5 - Regulations for Establishments Handling Food and Providing Public Accommodations.
Section 22-20-5.1 - Cottage Food Production.
Section 22-20-5.2 - Food Service Establishments to Secure Covers of Grease Traps.
Section 22-20-5.4 - Serving Wine or Beer in Food Service Establishments or Dog Parks.
Section 22-20-6 - Butchering, etc., of Legally Taken Wild Animals.
Section 22-20-7 - Inspection of Dairy Farms, Milk-Cooling Stations, Etc.
Section 22-20-8 - Depositing Dead Animals or Nauseous Substances in Water Supplies.
Section 22-20-9 - Depositing Dead Animals or Fowl in Running Streams.
Section 22-20-10 - Duty to Drain Areas in Construction Works.
Section 22-20-11 - Restrictions on Retail Sales of Certain Poisons.
Section 22-20-12 - Advertisements Concerning Impotency, Prostatic Troubles, Etc.