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HB 1637 Mississippi House · 2026 Regular Session

Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Panel; create under State Department of Health.

HB 1637 creates a Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Panel within Mississippi's State Department of Health to examine fetal deaths and infant deaths under one year old and develop prevention strategies. The panel must collect data from medical examiners, hospitals, health departments, and providers on causes and demographics of infant deaths, then submit annual reports to legislative committees with recommendations for state resource allocation. The bill requires health facilities to provide medical records to the panel while protecting all panel data as confidential, exempting it from public records laws and court disclosure. This affects healthcare providers, health departments, and state agencies responsible for sharing mortality data.
Issues: ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareCreates Fetal/Infant Mortality Review Panel to analyze causes, develop prevention strategies, and direct state resources toward reducing infant mortality through data-driven public health initiatives.95% confidence
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Feb 5, 2026 Signed Apr 8, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Passed the lower → Current version · 5 edits
MODERATE
The bill was significantly expanded to include a specific mandate for reviewing sudden and unexpected infant deaths (SIDS, SUID, and SDY), requiring the review panel to examine medical records without time limits and to verify reporting to national registries. Additionally, the bill strengthened confidentiality protections by explicitly exempting morbidity and mortality review records from public disclosure and allowing these committees to meet in closed executive sessions.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded from a general review of fetal and infant deaths to specifically include sudden and unexpected infant deaths, and it now explicitly covers maternal health records and immunization history in the review process.
REQUIREMENT

Added a mandatory requirement for the review panel to conduct comprehensive reviews of sudden and unexpected infant deaths, including SIDS, SUID, and SDY, with no time limit on reviewing medical records.

Added a requirement for the State Department of Health to verify that sudden infant death cases are reported to national registries (SUID/SDY Registry and VAERS) and to report any missing cases.

Expanded the scope of records to be reviewed to explicitly include the infant's or child's immunization history and maternal health records.

ENFORCEMENT

Modified confidentiality provisions to explicitly exempt morbidity and mortality review records from the Public Records Act and allow these committees to conduct closed executive sessions.

DEFINITION

Added a new statutory section (25-61-11.3) specifically defining the confidentiality and exemption status of documents used by the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Panel and other mortality review committees.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 11, 2026 · House Feb 4, 2026

How they voted

51–0
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 52
Mar 11, 2026
D Democratic18
18 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican34
33 Yea 1
97% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
18
Key actions
8
Committee
6
Amendments
1
Apr 8, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor
executive
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Conference Report Adopted
lower
Mar 29, 2026
Lower · Passed
Conference Report Filed
lower
Mar 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed As Amended
upper
Mar 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Amended
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
Title Suff Do Pass As Amended
upper
Feb 13, 2026
Committee
Referred To Public Health and Welfare
upper
Feb 5, 2026
Introduced
Transmitted To Senate
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Title Suff Do Pass
lower
Jan 19, 2026
Committee
Referred To Public Health and Human Services
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.