WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2022 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

House Bill 4631

By Delegates Walker and Rohrbach

[Introduced February 10, 2022; Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, by adding thereto a new article, designated §16-65-1, relating to establishing a bone marrow and peripheral blood stem donation awareness program;  directing the Department of Health and Human Services to create a website resource to inform and promote donation awareness; providing contents of  electronic brochure and website; and providing for consultation with certain health care providers to promote awareness of the federal and any state resources available for donations.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

article 65. Demetry waLKER Bone marrow and peripheral blood stem donation ACT.

§16-65-1. Bone marrow and peripheral blood stem donation awareness program established.

(a) The Department of Health and Human Services shall prepare an online brochure for display on the Internet website of the Department of Health and Senior Services, based upon information derived from the National Marrow Donor Program, which may be downloaded by physicians and utilized by the commissioner for the purposes of subsection (c) of this section, and shall be designed to inform patients of the option to become a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell donor by registering with the National Marrow Donor Program and to answer common questions about bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell donations.

(b) The brochure shall describe: 

(1) The health benefits to the community from making a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell donation through the National Marrow Donor Program;

(2) How to register with the National Marrow Donor Program;

(3) The procedures for making a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell donation, including notice that there is no charge to the donor or the donor’s family for making the donation;

(4) The circumstances and procedures by which a patient may receive a transfusion of the patient’s previously donated blood; and

(5) Any other aspects of bone marrow or National Marrow Donor Program that the department deems appropriate for the purposes of this Act.

(c) The Department of Health and Human Services shall seek to promote awareness among physicians and the general public in this State about the option to become a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell donor. In doing so, the Department shall consult with at a minimum, the following: the Board of Medicine, the Board of Osteopathy, the National Marrow Donor Program, and other organizations that are seeking to increase bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell donation among various ethnic groups within the State in need of these donations.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a bone marrow and peripheral blood stem donation awareness program; directing the Department of Health and Human Services to create a website resource to inform and promote donation awareness; providing contents for an electronic brochure and website; and providing for consultation with health care providers to promote awareness of the federal and any state resources available for donations.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.