ANATOMICAL GIFTS; INQUIRY S.B. 287:
ANALYSIS AS PASSED BY THE SENATE
Senate Bill 287 (as passed by the Senate)
RATIONALE
According to testimony before the Senate Committee on Health Policy, one organ donor could prevent up to eight people on the transplant list from dying or worsening in their conditions. Reportedly, asking a verbal question is a more effective way of getting people to sign up for the organ and tissue donor registry, as evidenced by the decrease in the registry's growth since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, it has been suggested that physician's offices and urgent care centers be allowed to ask people if they were interested in information regarding the organ and tissue donor registry or donating bone marrow.
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Public Health Code to allow a physician's private office or an urgent care center to ask each new patient whether the patient was interested in information regarding the organ and tissue donor registry or donating bone marrow.
Specifically, the bill would allow a physician's private practice office or an urgent care center to do the following:
-- Inquire of each new patient who was between 18 and 45 years old, either verbally or on a written or electronic form, whether the patient was interested in information on donating bone marrow and, on the patient's request, provide the patient with information on becoming a bone marrow donor; if information were provided, it would have to include contact information for bone marrow donation programs in the State.
-- Inquire of each new patient, either verbally or on a written or electronic form, whether the patient was interested in information on the organ and tissue donor registry and, on the patient's request, provide the patient with educational materials explaining the right to make an anatomical gift under Part 101 (Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Law), information describing the organ and tissue donor registry, and information on how to have the patient's name placed in the organ and tissue donor registry; if information were provided, it would have to include contact information for the State's Federally designated organ procurement organization or its successor organization as described in Section 10120.
(Section 10120 allows an organ procurement organization to establish or contract for the establishment of a donor registry that meets certain requirements, including that it be accessible to a procurement organization and provide electronic access at no cost to the procurement organization.)
"Anatomical gift" would mean that term as defined in Section 10102: a donation of all or part of a human body to take effect after the donor's death for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education. "Organ and tissue donor registry" would mean the donor
registry as that term as defined in Section 10102: a database that contains records of anatomical gifts and amendments to or revocations of anatomical gifts as provided for in Section 10120.
The materials and information described in the bill could be provided to the patient orally or in written or electronic form
PREVIOUS LEGISLATION
(Please note: This section does not provide a comprehensive account of all previous legislative efforts on the relevant subject matter.)
The bill is a reintroduction of Senate Bill 1025 from the 2021-2022 Legislative Session. Senate Bill 1025 was reported the Senate Committee on Health Policy and Human Services but received no further action.
ARGUMENTS
(Please note: The arguments contained in this analysis originate from sources outside the Senate Fiscal Agency. The Senate Fiscal Agency neither supports nor opposes legislation.)
Supporting Argument
Donating organs, tissue, and eyes can comfort individuals who have just had a loved one die by knowing the loved one's death gives others renewed hope for a healthy life. Additionally, according to testimony before the Senate Committee on Health Policy, similar bills have helped to grow the organ and tissue donor registries of other states. The bill would increase the likelihood that people become organ donors in Michigan's.
Supporting Argument
According to testimony before the Senate Committee on Health Policy, studies show that people reluctant to add their names to the donor registry trust their family doctor for information about being a donor. Donation partners, entities such as organ procurement organizations responsible for collecting organs and tissue from deceased donors, would have a more success in recruiting donors by connecting with doctors and providing ongoing education through them to their patients if the bill were made statute.
Legislative Analyst: Alex Krabill
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on the Department of Health and Human Services or local units of government.
Fiscal Analyst: Ellyn Ackerman
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.