The death of a southeast Missouri infant has led to the expansion of newborn screenings.
Governor Nixon welcomes the parents of Brady Alan Cunningham to a bill signing ceremony.
"It’s an honor to welcome Dustin and Jessy Cunningham to the governor’s office and the family," Nixon stated. "You’re leadership and advocacy for newborn screenings has been critical and is a wonderful tribute to in your son’s memory."
Nixon has signed HB 716 , The Brady Alan Cunningham Screening Act, which will add five Lysosomal Storage Diseases , neurological diseases known as L-S-Ds, to the list of 67 disorders for which newborns are screened.
"For the Cunningham family, this bill has a very personal importance," Nixon said. "One year old Brady Alan Cunningham died of Krabbe Disease on April 6, 2009. This disease is one of the five L-S-Ds required under our new law."
The bill signing became a poignant moment for Brady’s father Dustin Cunningham of Campbell.
"We thank God for Brady that he was given to us and his purpose in life was for this bill to be passed," Cunningham said, "We just thank everybody in support of the bill."
His wife, Jessy, expressed a similar sentiment.
"We also want to thank our family and everybody else who supported the bill. They really have given us a lot of support, through the bill and through Brady’s life," Jessy Cunningham said. "We know that Brady’s purpose here on this earth was to get this bill passed and we just thank him for that."
The State Health Department has plenty of time to comply. The bill gives state health officials until 2012 to expand the newborn screening requirements.