THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

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.

(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

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.

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.

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.