Bill Text: PA SB382 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Providing for the collection and banking of placental and umbilical cord blood for therapeutic transplantation and research.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 10-5)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-02-20 - Referred to PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE [SB382 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-SB382-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 380
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 382 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY FOLMER, ERICKSON, BOSCOLA, ALLOWAY, ORIE, KITCHEN, SCARNATI, GORDNER, RAFFERTY, O'PAKE, WOZNIAK, PICCOLA, LEACH, WONDERLING AND M. WHITE, FEBRUARY 20, 2009
REFERRED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, FEBRUARY 20, 2009
AN ACT
Providing for the collection and banking of placental and
umbilical cord blood for therapeutic transplantation and
research.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Statewide
Public Cord Blood Banking Act.
Section 2. Findings and purpose.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds as follows:
(1) Scientists have determined that placental and
umbilical cord blood hold tremendous promise in their ability
to provide a rich supply of stem cells for new treatments for
many lethal blood diseases, including leukemia, lymphoma,
severe aplastic anemia and myelodysplasia, and for some
immune and metabolic diseases, including severe combined
immunodeficiency, "Bubble Boy" disease, Adrenoleukodystrophy
"Lorenzo's Oil" disease and Krabbe Disease.
(2) Stem cells can be isolated from placental and cord
blood that would normally be discarded or destroyed after a
healthy birth. However, many women are not aware of their
option to donate placental and umbilical cord blood, and thus
the blood is often discarded as medical waste after
childbirth.
(3) Cord blood transplants are a real alternative to
bone marrow transplants. Public cord blood donations are
especially critical for racial and ethnic minorities having
special difficulty in finding matching unrelated bone marrow
donors for therapeutic treatment of various diseases.
(4) Annually, there are over 4,000,000 births in the
United States and over 144,000 births in this Commonwealth.
(5) There are a limited number of public cord blood
banks in the United States, and there are no public blood
banks operating in this Commonwealth. The expense of ensuring
appropriate screening, testing, collecting and storing of
blood units has limited the ability of Pennsylvania hospitals
to establish collaborating arrangements with regional cord
blood banks.
(6) Although the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act
of 2005 (Public Law 109-129, 42 U.S.C. § 274k et seq.) has
the goal of creating a public inventory of 150,000 high-
quality cord blood units to be made available for
transplantation, additional regional qualified public cord
banks are critical to help meet this goal.
(7) Investing in public cord blood banking in this
Commonwealth will lead to better treatments of diseases that
will ultimately help to reduce long-term health care costs on
taxpayers of this Commonwealth.
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(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this act is to do all of the
following:
(1) Establish a coordinating Statewide Public Cord Blood
Bank:
(i) To establish collaborating arrangements with
qualified hospital facilities that would allow consenting
cord blood donors to donate, free of charge, placental
and umbilical cord blood following delivery.
(ii) To acquire, tissue-type, cryopreserve and store
donated units of cord blood.
(iii) To make cord blood units available to
transplant centers for stem cell transplantation with the
primary goal of serving residents of this Commonwealth
who require transplantation.
(iv) To make cord blood units that are collected,
but not appropriate for clinical use, available for peer-
reviewed research.
(v) To coordinate with and make cord blood data
available to C. W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation
Program.
(2) Require the Department of Health to develop and
distribute educational materials for health care
professionals to inform them of the value of placental and
umbilical cord blood donations.
Section 3. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Cord blood donor." A mother who has delivered a baby and
consents to donate the neonatal blood remaining in the placenta
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and umbilical cord after separation from the newborn baby. The
term shall include a parent, other than the mother, or guardian
making a donation.
"Cord blood unit." The neonatal blood collected from the
placenta and from the umbilical cord after separation from a
single newborn baby.
"C. W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program." The program
established under section 379 of the Public Health Service Act
(58 Stat. 682, 42 U.S.C. § 274k).
"Department." The Department of Health of the Commonwealth.
"Qualified cord blood bank." A cord blood bank as defined
under the Public Health Service Act (58 Stat. 682, 42 U.S.C. §
274k).
"Qualified hospital facilities." A hospital or birthing
center licensed under the laws of this Commonwealth that meets
the standards for cord blood collection facilities as set forth
under standards of the American Association of Blood Banks, the
Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy or other
accreditation entity recognized by the Secretary of Health and
Human Services under the Public Health Service Act (58 Stat.
682, 42 U.S.C. § 274k).
Section 4. Grant.
The department shall make a grant to a qualified cord blood
bank located in this Commonwealth which shall be designated as
the Statewide Public Cord Blood Bank and which shall carry out
the purposes authorized under this act from any funds
appropriated for these purposes. In the event no entity
satisfies the definition of a qualified cord blood bank, the
department may award a grant to an entity in order to enable the
entity to become a qualified cord blood bank.
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Section 5. Limits on use of funds.
(a) Agreement.--Funds appropriated to carry out the purposes
of this act may be expended only for the establishment or
operation of the Statewide Public Cord Blood Bank.
(b) Human embryonic stem cell research.--Any entity seeking
a grant under this act shall not be awarded a grant if it does
any of the following:
(1) Performs or engages in research involving stem cell
lines derived from a living human embryo, other than research
conducted on human embryonic stem cell lines existing on
August 9, 2001, and for which Federal funding is available.
(2) Controls or is a subsidiary or an affiliate of an
entity or facility performing or engaging in research under
paragraph (1).
Section 6. Access and delivery of cord blood units.
The Statewide Public Cord Blood Bank shall not charge for a
search of its cord blood inventory made by or on behalf of a
resident of this Commonwealth for the purpose of locating cord
blood units for therapeutic transplant. The Statewide Public
Cord Blood Bank is authorized to charge for access to and
delivery of cord blood units to transplant facilities or to
facilities performing or engaging in research involving cord
blood units.
Section 7. Donations.
Any person making a donation to the Statewide Public Cord
Blood Bank relinquishes all claims to the material. A parent or
guardian may donate cord blood unit or related material to the
Statewide Public Cord Blood Bank. All donors of cord blood unit
or related material shall be entitled to immunity for the
material donated.
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Section 8. Educational materials.
The department, in consultation with the qualified cord blood
bank awarded a grant under this act, shall prepare educational
materials which shall be distributed to all health care
professionals and facilities in this Commonwealth providing
health care services to expectant mothers.
Section 9. Regulations.
The department may promulgate regulations to implement this
act and to establish fees for the administration of this act.
Section 20. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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