A bipartisan group of state legislators says that Connecticut is moving closer to becoming the latest state to participate in a national effort to bank umbilical cord blood, a source of valuable stem cells, The Associated Press reports.
Sen. Len Fasano, R-North Haven, unveiled legislation that would create a public cord blood collection program in the state. If approved, it would be the first public cord blood bank in Connecticut. The stem cells collected in the state would ultimately be stored at existing facilities outside of Connecticut and become part of a national donor pool.
“This will help generations yet unborn and help people yet to be diagnosed with cancer,” said Fasano, adding that 40 or so diseases are treated with cord blood. “This is an opportunity to treat not only people here in the state of Connecticut, but across this nation.”
The General Assembly’s Public Health Committee has scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday to discuss Fasano’s bill, which stems from the work of a task force made up of legislators and physicians that met over the past year. Fasano estimates the bank will initially cost about $200,000, far less expensive than the typical $10 million needed to create a physical blood bank facility, because the state is proposing to store the cord blood elsewhere.
New parents currently can pay private cord blood banks to store the blood for their own family’s use. He said it often costs about $1,500 to $2,000, in addition to a typical $150 to $200 annual maintenance fee, to use a private facility. Under this proposal, a family would have no control over the cord blood it donates to the public bank.
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