Mass. Gen. Laws. Ann. ch. 111, § 67E - Children born with congenital anomaly, birth defect, birth injury or an intellectual disability; reports

Within 30 days after diagnosis of a congenital abnormality, birth defect or birth injury that could lead to death or injury, the diagnosing physician must report should report the defect to the Department of Public Health.  The Commissioner of Public Health requires that all such cases be reported for infants under age 3.  The Department may abstract required information from the patient’s medical record.  The contents of the reports and records should be used only by the Department and are not public record.  The Commissioner can make the reports available to researchers performing studies to reduce morbidity and mortality as long as an institutional review board approves this release of information.  However, it should be noted that this law does not compel any person to submit to medical testing.   

Within 30 days of the birth of a child with mental retardation or within 30 days of a child being diagnosed with mental retardation, the diagnosing physician must first obtain the consent of the parents and report the case to the Department of Developmental Services to give the parents information about available resources.  This report must only used for this purpose and is not public record.