| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to umbilical cord blood banking; requiring |
| 3 | the Department of Health to prepare and distribute a |
| 4 | publication regarding the process, options, medical uses, |
| 5 | risks, and benefits of umbilical cord blood collection; |
| 6 | providing an effective date. |
| 7 |
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| 8 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Section 1. (1) The Department of Health shall prepare an |
| 11 | educational publication that contains standardized, objective |
| 12 | information regarding umbilical cord blood banking that is |
| 13 | sufficient to allow a pregnant woman to make an informed |
| 14 | decision about whether to participate in a public or private |
| 15 | umbilical cord blood banking program, including: |
| 16 | (a) An explanation of the differences between public and |
| 17 | private umbilical cord blood banking. |
| 18 | (b) The medical processes involved in the collection of |
| 19 | umbilical cord blood. |
| 20 | (c) The medical risks to the mother and her newborn child |
| 21 | associated with umbilical cord blood collection. |
| 22 | (d) The options available to a mother relating to stem |
| 23 | cells that are contained in the umbilical cord blood after the |
| 24 | delivery of her newborn, including: |
| 25 | 1. Donating the stem cells to a public umbilical cord |
| 26 | blood bank; |
| 27 | 2. Storing the stem cells in a family or private umbilical |
| 28 | cord blood bank for use by family members; |
| 29 | 3. Storing the stem cells for family use through a family |
| 30 | or sibling donor banking program that provides free collection, |
| 31 | processing, and storage when there is a medical need; or |
| 32 | 4. Discarding the stem cells. |
| 33 | (e) The current and potential future medical uses, risks, |
| 34 | and benefits of umbilical cord blood collection to a mother, her |
| 35 | newborn child, and her biological family. |
| 36 | (f) The current and potential future medical uses, risks, |
| 37 | and benefits of umbilical cord blood collection to persons who |
| 38 | are not biologically related to a mother or her newborn child. |
| 39 | (g) Any costs that may be incurred by a pregnant woman who |
| 40 | chooses to make an umbilical cord blood donation. |
| 41 | (h) Medical or family history criteria that could impact a |
| 42 | family's consideration of umbilical cord blood banking. |
| 43 | (i) Options for ownership and future use of the donated |
| 44 | umbilical cord blood. |
| 45 | (j) The average cost of public and private umbilical cord |
| 46 | blood banking. |
| 47 | (2) The department shall update the publication as |
| 48 | necessary. |
| 49 | (3) The department shall distribute the publication free |
| 50 | of charge to health care providers on request and shall make the |
| 51 | publication available on its website in a printable format. |
| 52 | (4) The department shall encourage health care and |
| 53 | maternal care professionals providing health care services to a |
| 54 | pregnant woman, when those health care services are directly |
| 55 | related to her pregnancy, to provide the pregnant woman with the |
| 56 | publication by the end of her second trimester or as soon as |
| 57 | feasible. |
| 58 | (a) A person described in this subsection is not required |
| 59 | to distribute the publication if the action conflicts with the |
| 60 | person's religious beliefs and the person makes this fact known |
| 61 | to the mother as soon as feasible. |
| 62 | (b) A person described in this subsection who fails to |
| 63 | distribute the publication is not subject to discipline by the |
| 64 | appropriate licensing agency and a cause of action is not |
| 65 | created by any failure to distribute the publication as required |
| 66 | by this section. |
| 67 | (5) The department shall begin distribution of the |
| 68 | publication no later than January 1, 2010. |
| 69 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |