Spinal Muscular Atrophy Added to Recommended Uniform Screening Panel

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is now among the disorders officially included in the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP), which state public health departments use to screen newborns for genetic disorders.

Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex M. Azar II formally added SMA to the panel on July 2 on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children.

“Adding SMA to the list will help ensure that babies born with SMA are identified, so that they have the opportunity to benefit from early treatment and intervention,” according to a statement from the Muscular Dystrophy Association about the decision. “This testing can also provide families with a genetic diagnosis—information that often is required to determine whether their child is eligible to participate in clinical trials.”

Adding SMA to the RUSP does not mean that states must screen newborns for the disorder. Each state’s public health apparatus decides independently whether to accept the recommendation and which disorders on the RUSP to screen for. Most states screen for most disorders on the RUSP. Evidence compiled by the advisory committee suggested a wide variation in resources, infrastructure, funding, and time to implementation among states.

Drug Approval Raised Ethical Questions

An estimated one in 11,000 newborns has SMA, a disorder caused by mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. SMA affects motor neurons in the brainstem and spinal cord, thus leading to motor weakness and atrophy. The only treatment for SMA had been palliative care until the FDA approved nusinersen for the disorder in December 2016. The drug’s approval has raised ethical questions.^1–3

After reviewing the evidence at its February 8 meeting, the advisory committee recommended adding SMA screening to the RUSP in a March 8 letter from committee chair Joseph A. Bocchini Jr, MD, Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at Louisiana State University Health in Shreveport.

Joseph A. Bocchini Jr, MD

Secretary Azar accepted the recommendation based on the evidence the committee provided; he also requested a follow-up report within two years “describing the status of implementing newborn screening for SMA and clinical outcomes of early treatment, including any potential harms, for infants diagnosed with SMA.”

The advisory committee makes its recommendations to HHS about which heritable disorders to include in the RUSP after it has assessed a systematic, evidence-based review conducted by an external, independent group. Alex R. Kemper, MD, MPH, Professor of Pediatrics at the Ohio State University and Division Chief of Ambulatory Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, both in Columbus, led the review group for SMA. Dr. Kemper is also deputy editor of Pediatrics and a member of the US Preventive Services Task Force.