Florida Senate - 2011                                     SB 702
       
       
       
       By Senator Flores
       
       
       
       
       38-00430A-11                                           2011702__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to umbilical cord blood banking;
    3         requiring the Department of Health to post on its
    4         website certain resources and a website link to
    5         specified materials regarding umbilical cord blood
    6         banking; requiring the department to encourage certain
    7         health care providers to make available to their
    8         pregnant patients information related to umbilical
    9         cord blood banking; providing that a health care
   10         provider or health care facility and its employees or
   11         agents are not liable for damages in a civil action,
   12         subject to prosecution in a criminal proceeding, or
   13         subject to disciplinary action by the appropriate
   14         regulatory board for acting in good faith to comply
   15         with the act; providing an effective date.
   16  
   17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   18  
   19         Section 1. (1) The Department of Health shall make publicly
   20  available, by posting on its Internet website, resources and an
   21  Internet website link to materials relating to umbilical cord
   22  blood which have been developed by the Parent’s Guide to Cord
   23  Blood Foundation, Inc., including:
   24         (a) An explanation of the potential value and uses of
   25  umbilical cord blood, including cord blood cells and stem cells,
   26  for individuals who are, as well as individuals who are not,
   27  biologically related to a mother or her newborn child.
   28         (b) An explanation of the differences between using one’s
   29  own cord blood cells and using biologically related or
   30  biologically unrelated cord blood stem cells in the treatment of
   31  disease.
   32         (c) An explanation of the differences between public and
   33  private umbilical cord blood banking.
   34         (d) The options available to a mother relating to stem
   35  cells that are contained in the umbilical cord blood after the
   36  delivery of her newborn, including:
   37         1. Donating the stem cells to a public umbilical cord blood
   38  bank where facilities are available;
   39         2. Storing the stem cells in a private family umbilical
   40  cord blood bank for use by immediate and extended family
   41  members;
   42         3. Storing the stem cells for use by family members through
   43  a family or sibling donor banking program that provides free
   44  collection, processing, and storage if there is an existing
   45  medical need; and
   46         4. Discarding the stem cells.
   47         (e) The medical processes involved in the collection of
   48  cord blood.
   49         (f) Criteria for medical or family history that can impact
   50  a family’s consideration of umbilical cord blood banking,
   51  including the likelihood of using a baby’s cord blood to serve
   52  as a match for a family member who has a medical condition.
   53         (g) Options for ownership and future use of donated
   54  umbilical cord blood.
   55         (h) The average cost of public and private umbilical cord
   56  blood banking.
   57         (i) The availability of public and private cord blood banks
   58  to residents of this state, including:
   59         1. A list of public cord blood banks and the hospitals
   60  served by such blood banks;
   61         2. A list of private cord blood banks that are available;
   62  and
   63         3. The availability of free family banking and sibling
   64  donor programs if there is an existing medical need by a family
   65  member.
   66         (j) An explanation of which racial and ethnic groups are in
   67  particular need of publicly donated cord blood samples based
   68  upon medical data developed by the Health Resources and Services
   69  Administration of the United States Department of Health and
   70  Human Services.
   71         (2) The Department of Health shall encourage health care
   72  providers who provide health care services that are directly
   73  related to a woman’s pregnancy to make available to a pregnant
   74  patient before her third trimester of pregnancy, or, if later,
   75  at the first visit of such patient to the provider, information
   76  listed under subsection (1) which relates to the patient’s
   77  options regarding umbilical cord blood banking.
   78         (3) A health care provider or a health care facility, or
   79  any employee or agent thereof, is not liable for damages in a
   80  civil action, subject to prosecution in a criminal proceeding,
   81  or subject to disciplinary action by the appropriate regulatory
   82  board for acting in good faith to comply with the provisions of
   83  this section.
   84         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.