BILL REQ. #:  H-3639.1 

Prefiled 1/6/2006. Read first time 01/09/2006.   Referred to Committee on Health Care.

     AN ACT Relating to establishing pilot projects for placental and umbilical cord blood donations; adding a new section to chapter 70.54 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that:
     (1) Placental and umbilical cord blood is recognized as a viable and more accessible alternative to bone marrow in many medical therapies. Science has discovered ways to treat many types of cancer, blood, and immune disorders through the use of stem cells from placental and umbilical cord blood. Placental and umbilical cord blood is currently used to treat such diseases as leukemia and over sixty other fatal immune system diseases;
     (2) In the United States there are approximately fifty thousand units of usable placental and umbilical cord blood, however, at least one hundred fifty thousand units are needed in order to meet the nation's demands. While over one thousand cord blood transplants have occurred around the world, it is estimated that with an adequate supply of placental and umbilical cord blood over eleven thousand patients could receive life-saving treatment in the United States every year;
     (3) There is an urgent need to dramatically increase the racial and ethnic diversity of the supply of placental and umbilical cord blood to improve the possibility of finding compatible donors in all racial and ethnic communities in Washington; and
     (4) Washington state is home to several large medical research institutions and an expanding biomedical research industry. Over thirty years ago the pioneering work of nobel laureate, E. Donnall Thomas, and his colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson cancer research center made bone marrow transplantation a reality. The use of placental and umbilical cord blood promises to build upon this legacy as well as lead to other new medical therapies.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 70.54 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department of health shall establish two pilot programs to allow consenting expectant mothers, delivering in a hospital licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW, to donate, to a public blood bank, placental and umbilical cord blood following childbirth. One pilot program shall be located in eastern Washington and the other in western Washington. The department shall administer the pilot project in coordination with blood bank resources currently operating in the state.
     (2) The pilot projects shall:
     (a) Increase accessibility to placental and cord blood donation programs and public blood banks;
     (b) Facilitate the receipt, storage, and distribution of donated placental and umbilical cord blood for use by appropriate patients and, where the donated blood is not suitable for use by patients, for research in projects approved by an institutional review board; and
     (c) Increase awareness about placental and umbilical cord donation among expectant parents and health care providers, including in racial and ethnic communities where there are difficulties finding compatible donors.
     (3) The department of health shall report to the legislature by December 1, 2008, on the results of the pilot projects, including information on donations received and the use of those donations for patients and for research. The report shall also include recommendations for expanding access to public blood banks, increasing awareness among expectant parents and health care providers, and promoting donations in diverse communities.
     (4) The department of health shall create a work group to provide advice and consultation in developing, implementing, and evaluating the pilot project and comment on the department's report. This work group shall consist of patients, health care providers, hospital administrators, blood bank administrators, and representatives of biomedical research institutions.