SENATE BILL No. 1355

 

 

June 29, 2006, Introduced by Senators BROWN, VAN WOERKOM, BIRKHOLZ, ALLEN, GILBERT, KUIPERS, GOSCHKA, JOHNSON, HAMMERSTROM, TOY, PATTERSON and GARCIA and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1978 PA 368, entitled

 

"Public health code,"

 

(MCL 333.1101 to 333.25211) by adding section 2681.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 2681. (1) The department shall establish a statewide

 

network of cord blood stem cell banks that contain at least 150,000

 

units of human cord blood stem cells. The director of the

 

department shall enter into contracts with qualified cord blood

 

stem cell banks to assist in the establishment, provision, and

 

maintenance of the network.

 

     (2) A cord blood stem cell bank is eligible to enter the

 

network and be a donor bank if it satisfies each of the following:

 


     (a) Has obtained all applicable federal and state licenses,

 

certifications, registrations, and other authorizations required to

 

operate and maintain a cord blood stem cell bank.

 

     (b) Has implemented donor screening and cord blood collection

 

practices adequate to protect both donors and transplant recipients

 

and to prevent transmission of potentially harmful infections and

 

other diseases.

 

     (c) Has established a system of strict confidentiality to

 

protect the identity and privacy of patients and donors in

 

accordance with existing federal and state law and consistent with

 

regulations promulgated under the health insurance portability and

 

accountability act of 1996, Public Law 104-191, for the release of

 

the identity of donors, recipients, or identifiable records.

 

     (d) Has established a system for encouraging donation by an

 

ethnically diverse group of donors.

 

     (e) Has developed adequate systems for communication with

 

other cord blood stem cell banks, transplant centers, and

 

physicians with respect to the request, release, and distribution

 

of cord blood units nationally and has developed such systems,

 

consistent with the regulations promulgated under the health

 

insurance portability and accountability act of 1996, Public Law

 

104-191, to track recipients' clinical outcomes for distributed

 

units.

 

     (f) Has developed a system for educating the public, including

 

patient advocacy organizations, about the benefits of donating and

 

utilizing cord blood stem cells in appropriate circumstances.

 

     (3) A donor bank that enters into the network shall do all of

 


the following:

 

     (a) Acquire, tissue-type, test, cryopreserve, and store

 

donated units of human cord blood acquired with the informed

 

consent of the donor, in a manner that complies with applicable

 

federal regulations.

 

     (b) Make cord blood units collected under this section, or

 

otherwise, available to transplant centers for stem cell

 

transplantation.

 

     (c) Allocate up to 10% of the cord blood inventory each year

 

for peer-reviewed research.

 

     (4) A board of directors shall govern and administer the state

 

cord blood stem cell bank network. The board shall be appointed by

 

the director and consist of members who represent each of the

 

following:

 

     (a) Cord blood stem cell transplant centers.

 

     (b) Physicians from participating birthing hospitals.

 

     (c) The cord blood stem cell research community.

 

     (d) Recipients of cord blood stem cell transplants.

 

     (e) Family members of a patient of the statewide cord blood

 

stem cell bank.

 

     (f) Individuals with expertise in the social sciences.

 

     (g) Members of the general public.

 

     (h) Network donor banks.

 

     (5) Except as otherwise provided under this subsection, each

 

member of the board shall serve for a 3-year term and may be

 

reappointed for 1 or more additional terms. Appointments for the

 

initial members shall be for terms of 1, 2, and 3 years,

 


respectively, so as to provide for the subsequent appointment of an

 

equal number of members each year. The board shall elect a

 

chairperson and do each of the following:

 

     (a) Ensure that the donor banks within the network meet the

 

requirements of subsection (2) on a continuing basis.

 

     (b) Ensure that the statewide cord blood stem cell bank

 

network and the birthing hospital collection sites are

 

geographically distributed throughout the state.

 

     (c) Establish a statewide cord blood stem cell registry.

 

     (d) Coordinate the donor banks in the network.

 

     (6) The statewide cord blood stem cell registry shall be a

 

system for identifying, acquiring, and distributing donated units

 

of cord blood that are suitably matched to candidate patients and

 

shall include a database to document the collection, storage,

 

distribution, and transplantation of cord blood units and the

 

clinical outcomes of all transplantations related to the network.

 

The registry shall provide transplant physicians and other

 

appropriate health care professionals a website function that

 

enables them to search the entire registry for suitable donor

 

matches for patients and to request specific cord blood units.

 

     (7) As used in this section:

 

     (a) "Cord blood unit" means the blood collected from a single

 

placenta and umbilical cord.

 

     (b) "Donor" means a mother who has delivered a baby and

 

consents to donate the newborn's blood remaining in the placenta

 

and umbilical cord.

 

     (c) "Donor bank" means a qualified cord blood stem cell bank

 


that enters into a contract with the director under subsection (1).

 

     (d) "Human cord blood stem cells" means hematopoietic stem

 

cells and any other stem cells contained in the neonatal blood

 

collected immediately after the birth from the separated placenta

 

and umbilical cord.

 

     (e) "Network" means the statewide network of qualified cord

 

blood stem cell banks established under subsection (1).