A bill that would require Wyoming blood banks to store and transfer a patient’s own blood, or his loved ones’ blood, for a later medical transfusion cleared its first legislative committee hearing Wednesday and heads to the state House floor.
House Bill 135 passed the House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee on a 6-2 vote Wednesday.
If it becomes law, HB 135 would require hospitals and health care facilities to let people pre-donate their own blood ahead of a medical procedure, or receive blood specifically from a friend or family member rather than from the common blood bank.
It would also require blood banks to comply with a doctor’s prescription for such blood, as long as the donor was in good health.
And it would forbid blood banks from charging more than their regular fee for targeted blood donations like those.
Two major blood banks oppose the bill. But newer companies that have been orchestrating blood donations for consumers who prefer blood donations not impacted by COVID-19 vaccinations voiced support for it over two committee meetings Monday and Wednesday.
Yeah, But That’s Allowed
Blood banks already allow “autologous,” or self-donated blood transfers, and “directed donor,” or transfers with a specific donor contributing the blood, a representative of Vitalant told the committee Monday.
The bill merely confuses the issue and expands government control over this area, the spokesman added.
The bill “seeks to unnecessarily insert the government into health care decisions,” Dr. Ralph Vassallo of Vitalant told the committee Monday. “House Bill 135 offers no public benefit, and could negatively impact patient care.”
Now when a doctor starts one of these targeted donation processes for a patient, the blood center’s physicians are consulted to make sure it’s medically necessary and won’t pose unnecessary or unrecognized harm for patients, said Vassallo.
But normally the common blood supply meets patients’ needs, and the more targeted blood transfusions the bill describes comprise less than 0.04% of all blood transfusions, the doctor added.
And they’re allowed in Wyoming.
“There’s simply no need for this bill,” he said. “It is a government solution looking for a problem that does not exist.”
Vassallo said directed donations from friends or loved ones can pose higher health risks since people may be less likely to report their private health conditions or risky behaviors to a loved one asking for blood than to an anonymous checklist at the blood bank.
In a later testimony Monday, a speaker for the American Red Cross echoed Vassallo’s points and urged the committee to reject the bill.
Pure Blood
Gil Levy, founder of Pure Blood Registry, voiced support of the bill. He started the Pure Blood platform in 2022 to help people get blood donations from known sources, he said.
The registry’s website says it’s a global network committed to “trustworthy, COVID-19-free blood donations.” A lower note elaborates, saying the registry is for donors who have not received COVID-19 vaccines.
Levy told state lawmakers to learn lessons from history. He spoke of the tragic contaminations of blood with HIV in the 1980s and 1990s.
He pointed to COVID-era failures as a sign of more unknowns to come with post-vaccination blood.
“During the pandemic, public health agencies failed us,” said Levy. “Bureaucratic inefficiencies and prioritization of corporate relationships over public safety led to the spread of infections. These systemic failures have had lasting impact.”
Unlike Vassallo, Levy said targeted blood donations have more quality and safety, and that the practice helps reinforce personal health autonomy.
“House Bill 135 will simply protect a freedom that has existed for decades but is quietly being erased by the blood industry,” said Levy.
Former Rep. Sarah Penn, a Republican from Fort Washakie who testified on the bill, cited the 2022 account of “Baby Alexander.”
Born in Washington state, the baby had a minor defect requiring a blood transfusion. His parents had prearranged the donation from a member of their church, but the hospital said it couldn’t find that blood when the time for the transfusion came, the Independent Sentinel reported at the time.
The hospital used its common supply without the parents’ consent, the outlet continued, adding that the baby developed a large blood clot in his knee that led to his death.
Amendment Failed
Rep. Ken Clouston, R-Gillette, proposed an amendment in response to the major blood banks’ safety concerns. It would have required the blood bank facility’s physician to certify the blood for health standards — an extra check on the requirement that blood banks honor hospital doctors’ prescription orders.
The committee majority rejected that amendment and it failed.
In a later back-and-forth with Clouston, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Joel Guggenmos, R-Riverton, said the bill’s intention is to keep blood banks in Wyoming from hindering the targeted donations in the future.
Roll Call
Guggenmos voted in favor of the bill, as did Committee Chair Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody; and Republican Reps. Paul Hoeft (Powell), Darin McCann (Rock Springs), Pepper Ottman (Riverton) and Jacob Wasserburger (Cheyenne).
Clouston and Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, both voted against it.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
