BILL REQ. #:  H-4348.1 

Read first time 01/16/08.   Referred to Committee on Health Care & Wellness.

     AN ACT Relating to umbilical cord blood; and creating new sections.

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;
     (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; and
     (5) Research on premature birth is currently being performed by Children's Hospital that has led to gains in efficiency in the retrieval and collection of placental and umbilical cord blood that can be expanded beyond the research subjects to benefit the broader population.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The department of health shall identify and provide funding to a work group charged with the expansion of umbilical cord blood collection practices consisting of representatives from a major health research institution engaged in premature birth research, a nationally recognized cancer treatment and research institution, a nonprofit blood bank engaged in umbilical cord blood collection, and an organization representing hospitals.
     (2) The department of health shall support the work group in the development of:
     (a) Model educational materials for expectant parents and health care providers regarding the process for donating umbilical cord blood and its uses. The materials shall be culturally appropriate for individuals of various races and ethnic backgrounds;
     (b) Common protocols for use by hospitals and blood banks in the retrieval and collection of umbilical cord blood to increase efficiency to promote the expansion of umbilical cord blood retrieval and collection statewide; and
     (c) Methods to decrease the cost of umbilical cord blood banking for both research and transplantation.
     (3) The work group shall provide advice and consultation to the pilot project established in section 3 of this act and review its progress to inform the work group's efforts.
     (4) By July 1, 2010, the department of health shall submit a report of the work group to the legislature and governor. The report shall contain the work group's recommendations for model educational materials, retrieval and collection protocols, and any recommendations for decreasing the cost of umbilical cord blood banking and expanding umbilical cord blood collection across the state and to diverse communities. In addition, the report must summarize the findings of the pilot project established in section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The department of health, in consultation with the work group created in section 2 of this act, shall identify an institution actively conducting research in Washington that requires the collection of blood and specimens from women during pregnancy and at delivery, including the collection of umbilical cord blood, to participate in a pilot project. The pilot project shall take place in three hospitals in eastern Washington where research is occurring and must support the expansion of the retrieval and collection of umbilical cord blood beyond the research subjects to the general prenatal population. The pilot project must support the additional staff and resources necessary to expand retrieval and collection, which will be overseen by the institution conducting the research, using protocols and methods provided by the work group created in section 2 of this act.