* § 2803-v. Lymphedema information distribution. 1. For the purposes of this section, the term "lymphedema" shall mean an accumulation of fluid in the interstitial tissue that causes swelling, most often in the arms and/or legs, and occasionally in other parts of the body, from any cause.

Terms Used In N.Y. Public Health Law 2803-V

  • Hospital: means a facility or institution engaged principally in providing services by or under the supervision of a physician or, in the case of a dental clinic or dental dispensary, of a dentist, or, in the case of a midwifery birth center, of a midwife, for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of human disease, pain, injury, deformity or physical condition, including, but not limited to, a general hospital, public health center, diagnostic center, treatment center, a rural emergency hospital under 42 USC 1395x(kkk), or successor provisions, dental clinic, dental dispensary, rehabilitation center other than a facility used solely for vocational rehabilitation, nursing home, tuberculosis hospital, chronic disease hospital, maternity hospital, midwifery birth center, lying-in-asylum, out-patient department, out-patient lodge, dispensary and a laboratory or central service facility serving one or more such institutions, but the term hospital shall not include an institution, sanitarium or other facility engaged principally in providing services for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of mental disability and which is subject to the powers of visitation, examination, inspection and investigation of the department of mental hygiene except for those distinct parts of such a facility which provide hospital service. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2801

2. The commissioner shall design an informational packet about lymphedema and shall require that every general hospital distribute such packet to all patients at high risk of developing lymphedema. Patients deemed high risk shall include:

(a) patients who experience any significant injury to soft tissue that could reasonably be expected, using sound medical judgment, as a result of severity and nature thereof, to compromise or cause to be ineffective the drainage of the lymphatic system;

(b) patients who experience recurrent or persistent bacterial infections that could reasonably be expected, using sound medical judgment, as a result of severity and nature thereof, to compromise or cause to be ineffective the drainage of the lymphatic system; or

(c) patients who have had corrective surgical procedures performed that may have interfered with the lymph drainage by severing local lymphatics in a manner that may jeopardize reconstitution and recovery of lymph drainage.

* NB There are 2 § 2803-v's