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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR	Carraro		DATE TYPED	02/09/04		HB
SHORT TITLE		Bone Marrow on Illegal Organs to Obtain Lists				SB	SJM 52
					ANALYST		Dunbar

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY04	FY05	FY04	FY05
	NFI

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

SJM 52 requires the New Mexico congressional delegation to support the removal of bone marrow from the federal list of human organs that are illegal to obtain for consideration.

Significant Issues

Leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anemia, inherited disorders and many other diseases are treated with bone marrow transplants. Like blood, bone marrow is a replaceable organ and the human body regenerates bone marrow in approximately four weeks. It is difficult for patients requiring bone marrow transplants to find matching donors because of lack of people being tested.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

National Marrow Donor Program:

A bone marrow transplant is a complex and difficult procedure used to treat life-threatening diseases like leukemia. Each year, thousands of African Americans, American Indian/Alaska Natives, Asian/Pacific Islanders and Hispanics are diagnosed with leukemia or other life-threatening blood diseases. For many, their only chance for survival is a marrow or blood stem cell transplant. Bone marrow transplants require matching certain tissue traits of the donor and patient. Because these traits are inherited, a patient's most likely match is another family member. If the patient has siblings, there is a 25 percent chance of matching the patient’s tissue type with a sibling. Seventy percent cannot find a match within their own families.

If there is not a family match, then donor registries must be searched for possible volunteer matches. Because tissue types are inherited, patients are more likely to find a matched donor from their own racial or ethnic group. Black and African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and Hispanic and Latino patients face a greater challenge in finding matched donors than White patients.

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