Failure of Tattooing bill


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Ray Carter, House Media
Capitol: (405) 557-7421

Contact: State Rep. Al Lindley
Capitol: (405) 557-7371
Oklahoma City: (405) 681-8352

Tattoo Bill's Demise Means Health Problems Likely

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 18) - By failing to hear legislation legalizing
tattooing, the Oklahoma House of Representatives has increased the
likelihood of serious health problems across the state, the bill's
author said Monday.
"Health officials have repeatedly proven that unregulated tattoo
parlors are using dirty needles and spreading potentially
life-threatening diseases in Oklahoma," said State Rep. Al Lindley.
"Those same authorities have said legal, strict regulation of tattooing
could eliminate that problem and maintain public safety, but we've been
denied the chance to address this issue."
House Bill 1519 and Senate Bill 806, two measures authored by
Lindley and State Sen. Frank Shurden, would have regulated tattooing in
Oklahoma and set up oversight of the industry.
HB 1519 was not granted a hearing in the Oklahoma House of
Representatives earlier this year. SB 806, which passed the Oklahoma
Senate on a 30-15 vote, was the last vehicle that would have addressed
the tattoo issue.
The bill would have placed the state Department of Health in
charge of regulating tattoo parlors and required that all facilities be
inspected at least twice a year.
Individuals providing tattoos would have been required to obtain
training and education on blood-borne pathogens similar to the training
most medical professionals receive.
Only licensed individuals would have been allowed to obtain
tattoo supplies under the provisions of SB 806.
Violations of the law would have resulted in up to 90 days in
jail and a $5,000 fine.
However, SB 806 was not given a hearing in the House Health and
Human Services Committee on Monday, the final meeting of the year.
As a result, both bills now lie dormant and no action is
expected on either for the rest of the legislative session.
The Department of Health, Oklahoma Hospital Association,
Oklahoma State Medical Association, Oklahoma Osteopathic Association,
and the editorial pages of the state's major newspapers had all endorsed
the tattoo legislation.
Medical officials said there has been an increase in hepatitis
infections tied to the use of dirty needles in unregulated tattoo
parlors. In some cases, officials have also discovered that unregulated
tattoo artists are using the same bottle of pigment multiple times,
increasing the chance of spreading blood-borne pathogens.
The most prominent disease associated with unsanitary tattoos is
hepatitis, an incurable disease of the liver that can ultimately lead to
liver failure.
In 2004, officials identified an outbreak of hepatitis B in
LeFlore County that was tied to home tattooing practices. An outbreak of
antibiotic-resistant skin infections in four patients with recent
tattoos also occurred in 2004 in Atoka County.
An individual who receives a tattoo in an unregulated setting is
two-to-three times as likely to contract hepatitis C, according to
health officials. Records show a 78-percent increase in hepatitis C
infections occurred in Oklahoma from 2000-2003 and that 34 percent of
the individuals who acquired hepatitis C had a tattoo.
"By killing this legislation without a hearing or debate, the
House may have doomed many of Oklahoma's citizens to the equivalent of a
death sentence," said Lindley, D-Oklahoma City. "We know people are
going to get tattoos, whether legal or not, so we should at least make
sure they have a safe and clean environment to obtain that tattoo."
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