ENROLLED 2011 Legislature SB 702, 1st Engrossed 2011702er 1 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.