§ 46:2263 — Definitions

§2263. Definitions
Except where the context clearly indicates otherwise, in this Chapter:
(1) "Advisory council" means the advisory council created pursuant to R.S. 46:2265.
(2) "Department" means the Louisiana Department of Health.
(3) "Deaf or hard of hearing infant" means an infant who has a disorder of the
auditory system of any type or degree, causing hearing loss sufficient to interfere with the
development of language and speech skills.
(4) "Infants susceptible to a hearing disability" means those infants who are
susceptible to hearing loss because they have one or more risk factors.
(5) "Office" means the office of public health within the department.
(6) "Program" means the program that the office of public health establishes to
provide for the early identification and follow-up of infants susceptible to a hearing
disability, of deaf or hard of hearing infants, and of infants who have a risk factor for
developing progressive hearing loss.
(7)(a) "Risk factors" means those criteria or factors, any one of which identifies an
infant as being susceptible to hearing loss.
(b) The risk factors that identify those neonates, infants from birth through the first
twenty-eight days, who are susceptible to sensorineural hearing loss include the following:
(i) Family history of congenital or delayed onset childhood sensorineural
impairment.
(ii) Congenital infection known or suspected to be associated with sensorineural
hearing loss such as toxoplasmosis, syphilis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, and herpes.
(iii) Craniofacial anomalies including morphologic abnormalities of the pinna and
ear canal, absent philtrum, low hairline, et cetera.
(iv) Birth weight less than one thousand five hundred grams or less than three and
three tenths pounds.
(v) Hyperbilirubinemia at a level exceeding indication for exchange transfusion.
(vi) Ototoxic medications, including but not limited to the aminoglycosides used for
more than five days, such as gentamicin, tobramycin, kanamycin, streptomycin, and loop
diuretics used in combination with aminoglycosides.
(vii) Bacterial meningitis.
(viii) Severe depression at birth, which may include infants with Apgar scores of
zero to three at five minutes or those who fail to initiate spontaneous respiration by ten
minutes or those with hypotonia persisting to two hours of age.
(ix) Prolonged mechanical ventilation for a duration equal to or greater than ten days,
such as persistent pulmonary hypertension.
(x) Stigmata or other findings associated with a syndrome known to include
sensorineural hearing loss, such as Waardenburg or Usher Syndrome.
(xi) Other risk factors added or deleted by the office of public health upon
recommendation of the advisory council for early identification of deaf or hard of hearing
children.
(c) The factors that identify those infants aged twenty-nine days to two years who are
susceptible to sensorineural hearing loss include the following:
(i) Parent or caregiver concerns regarding hearing, speech, language, or
developmental delay.
(ii) Bacterial meningitis.
(iii) Neonatal risk factors that may be associated with progressive sensorineural
hearing loss, such as cytomegalovirus, prolonged mechanical ventilation, and inherited
disorders.
(iv) Head trauma, especially with either longitudinal or transverse fracture of the
temporal bone.
(v) Stigmata or other findings associated with syndromes known to include
sensorineural hearing loss, such as Waardenburg or Usher Syndrome.
(vi) Ototoxic medications, including but not limited to the aminoglycosides used for
more than five days, such as gentamicin, tobramycin, kanamycin, streptomycin, and loop
diuretics used in combination with aminoglycosides.
(vii) Neurodegenerative disorders such as neurofibromatosis, myoclonic epilepsy,
Werdnig-Hoffman disease, Tay-Sachs disease, infantile Gaucher's disease, Niemann-Pick
disease, any metachromatic leukodystrophy, or any infantile demyelinating neuropathy.
(viii) Childhood infectious diseases known to be associated with sensorineural
hearing loss, such as mumps or measles.
(ix) Other risk factors added or deleted by the office of public health upon
recommendation of the advisory council for early identification of deaf or hard of hearing
children.
(8) "Screening for hearing loss" means employing a device for identifying whether
an infant has a disorder of the auditory system, but may not necessarily provide a
comprehensive determination of hearing thresholds in the speech range. Procedures may
include auditory brainstem response (ABR) screening, evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAE)
screening, and other devices approved by the office upon recommendation of the advisory
council.

Legislative History

Acts 1992, No. 417, §1; Acts 1999, No. 653, §1; Acts 2017, No. 146, §11.