Assembly Passes Compromise Bill to Study Blood-Bank Risks

The Assembly on Friday gave final approval to a compromise bill by Assemblyman Tom Bane (D-Van Nuys) to study the relative risk of disease from blood components provided by volunteers and paid donors.

Under the measure, approved by a 79-0 vote, an independent panel of five blood-bank directors and health professionals would oversee the study contrasting the relative safety of different kinds of blood platelets, which help in clotting.

The legislation spells out that panel members “shall have no personal financial interest or direct involvement in the implementation of the study. . . .”

$200,000 for Research

The bill also would direct the state Department of Health Services to contract for the study with agreement of the panel, and sets aside $200,000 for research on platelets, which are separated from whole blood and packaged in small plastic bags.

The health department and private, nonprofit blood banks had objected to provisions in earlier versions of Bane’s proposal because they gave control of the study to a three-member state health panel, which awards contracts for research into lupus, a skin disease.

They objected because, among that panel’s members, are Bane’s wife, Marlene, and Dr. Joshua Levy, medical director of HemaCare Corp., a Sherman Oaks-based blood concern. Critics contended that, because Levy’s firm is among a handful in the state that buys blood platelets, he would have had a conflict of interest.

However, Levy said he would have removed himself from panel deliberations about the study. Further, the bill would benefit the entire blood-bank industry, not just HemaCare, he said.

Bane Accepts Compromise

Nonetheless, with criticism of the study mounting, Bane agreed to a compromise that took away control from the lupus board.

On Friday, Bane said: “The whole thing is far improved.”

Stephen F. Forsberg, lobbyist for the Health Services Department, said the change in the bill eliminates the potential for conflict of interest and “sets up a committee that has far more expertise than the lupus board.”

John Horrell, director of state relations for the American Red Cross, said the compromise is “about the best we can come up with. It’s less likely to benefit HemaCare.”