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Bill to require access to autologous and directed blood donations faces opposition from transfusion experts
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Summary
House Bill 1456 would require that blood collection sites and tissue banks accommodate autologous (self-donated) and directed donations for patients. Sponsor said the intent is to expand access; the American Red Cross and a transfusion medicine physician warned the requirement could strain blood-supply safety and logistics.
House Bill 1456 would establish requirements for autologous and directed blood donations and transfusions to ensure patients who want to use self-donated blood for a planned procedure can access it through non‑hospital collection sites.
Colin Michael Rolfes, an intern presenting for Delegate Rick Metzger, told the committee that the bill is intended to make it easier for patients to donate blood for use in their own procedures and to ensure blood‑collection sites outside hospitals could accommodate those orders. “From my understanding of this bill it is to give people the access to donate autologous blood for their own procedure,” Rolfes said.
Opponents from transfusion medicine urged caution. Dr. Saqib R. Alvi, a board‑certified transfusion medicine physician who identified himself as a medical director for the American Red Cross, told the committee autologous and directed donations are already available when ordered by a physician and that mandating broader acceptance could create patient-safety and supply problems. “Autologous donations comprise 0.04 percent of blood transfusion,” Alvi said, and he added that mandating acceptance of all such orders could force blood centers to accept incompatible or unsafe orders, increasing the risk of adverse outcomes.
Alvi also said directed donations can be less safe than community blood supplies and can raise transfusion reaction risks and future transplant or pregnancy complications. He told members that existing clinical review by blood‑center physicians helps ensure safety and compatibility when autologous or directed donations are requested.
Sponsor representatives said the bill responds to logistical barriers that can prevent patients from arranging autologous donations at non‑hospital collection sites. Committee members questioned whether the bill would change clinical review practices; Alvi said the medical community already consults blood‑center physicians when necessary and that the bill was not needed to permit autologous donations.
No committee vote was recorded at the hearing. Testimony closed after the witness panel.
Why it matters: Autologous and directed donations can be medically appropriate in select cases, but medical experts warned a statutory mandate covering all collection sites could strain blood‑center resources and introduce safety risks if it eliminated clinical review by trained transfusion medicine physicians.
What comes next: The committee will consider testimony and any proposed amendments before taking further action.
