SB 702                                           First Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       2011702e1
       
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to umbilical cord blood banking;
    3         creating s. 381.06016, F.S.; requiring the Department
    4         of Health to post on its website certain resources and
    5         a website link to specified materials regarding
    6         umbilical cord blood banking; requiring the department
    7         to encourage certain health care providers to make
    8         available to their pregnant patients information
    9         related to umbilical cord blood banking; providing
   10         that a health care provider or health care facility
   11         and its employees or agents are not liable for damages
   12         in a civil action, subject to prosecution in a
   13         criminal proceeding, or subject to disciplinary action
   14         by the appropriate regulatory board for acting in good
   15         faith to comply with the act; providing an effective
   16         date.
   17  
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Section 381.06016, Florida Statutes, is created
   21  to read:
   22         381.06016 Umbilical cord blood awareness.—
   23         (1) The Department of Health shall make publicly available,
   24  by posting on its Internet website, resources and an Internet
   25  website link to materials relating to umbilical cord blood which
   26  have been developed by the Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood
   27  Foundation, Inc., including:
   28         (a) An explanation of the potential value and uses of
   29  umbilical cord blood, including cord blood cells and stem cells,
   30  for individuals who are, as well as individuals who are not,
   31  biologically related to a mother or her newborn child.
   32         (b) An explanation of the differences between using one’s
   33  own cord blood cells and using biologically related or
   34  biologically unrelated cord blood stem cells in the treatment of
   35  disease.
   36         (c) An explanation of the differences between public and
   37  private umbilical cord blood banking.
   38         (d) The options available to a mother relating to stem
   39  cells that are contained in the umbilical cord blood after the
   40  delivery of her newborn, including:
   41         1. Donating the stem cells to a public umbilical cord blood
   42  bank where facilities are available;
   43         2. Storing the stem cells in a private family umbilical
   44  cord blood bank for use by immediate and extended family
   45  members;
   46         3. Storing the stem cells for use by family members through
   47  a family or sibling donor banking program that provides free
   48  collection, processing, and storage if there is an existing
   49  medical need; and
   50         4. Discarding the stem cells.
   51         (e) The medical processes involved in the collection of
   52  cord blood.
   53         (f) Criteria for medical or family history that can impact
   54  a family’s consideration of umbilical cord blood banking,
   55  including the likelihood of using a baby’s cord blood to serve
   56  as a match for a family member who has a medical condition.
   57         (g) Options for ownership and future use of donated
   58  umbilical cord blood.
   59         (h) The average cost of public and private umbilical cord
   60  blood banking.
   61         (i) The availability of public and private cord blood banks
   62  to residents of this state, including:
   63         1. A list of public cord blood banks and the hospitals
   64  served by such blood banks;
   65         2. A list of private cord blood banks that are available;
   66  and
   67         3. The availability of free family banking and sibling
   68  donor programs if there is an existing medical need by a family
   69  member.
   70         (j) An explanation of which racial and ethnic groups are in
   71  particular need of publicly donated cord blood samples based
   72  upon medical data developed by the Health Resources and Services
   73  Administration of the United States Department of Health and
   74  Human Services.
   75         (2) The Department of Health shall encourage health care
   76  providers who provide health care services that are directly
   77  related to a woman’s pregnancy to make available to a pregnant
   78  patient before her third trimester of pregnancy, or, if later,
   79  at the first visit of such patient to the provider, information
   80  listed under subsection (1) which relates to the patient’s
   81  options regarding umbilical cord blood banking.
   82         (3) A health care provider or a health care facility, or
   83  any employee or agent thereof, is not liable for damages in a
   84  civil action, subject to prosecution in a criminal proceeding,
   85  or subject to disciplinary action by the appropriate regulatory
   86  board for acting in good faith to comply with the provisions of
   87  this section.
   88         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.