Rhode Island
RI, United States
Rhode Island has state legislation around cord blood education that follows the Institute of Medicine guidelines and mandates/encourages physicians to educate expectant parents about ALL forms of cord blood banking. The Rhode Island bill was enacted 27 June 2008 and became effective 27 June 2008.
FAQs
- What is the benefit of HON accreditation of the Parent's Guide to Cord Blood website?
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Health on the Net Foundation (HON) is an international non-profit under the United Nations that is dedicated to inspecting and accrediting medical websites for accurate and ethical content. Websites accredited under the HON code are committed to abide by these 8 principles:
- Authority - Give qualifications of authors
- Complementarity - Information to support, not replace physician
- Confidentiality - Respect the privacy of site users
- Attribution - Cite the sources and dates of medical information
- Justifiability - Justification of claims / balanced and objective claims
- Transparency - Accessibility, provide valid contact details
- Financial disclosure - Provide details of funding
- Advertising - Clearly distinguish advertising from editorial content
- Authority - Give qualifications of authors
- How is education from the Parent's Guide to Cord Blood unique?
- We are the only organization in the United States providing cord blood education materials that offer balanced information about both donation and family storage, and are approved by an Advisory Panel of leading Scientists and Medical Doctors.
- Why is it important to choose a Family Bank that is accredited?
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The Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation recommends that parents select a Family Bank whose laboratory has been inspected and accredited by an accreditation agency specific to cord blood banking, as this provides a degree of quality assurance.
In some countries, national regulations hold Family Banks to the same standards as Public Banks, so an independent accreditation is not necessary (Examples: Germany, Israel). But in most countries the federal requirements for Family Banks are not as strict as Public Banks, and then a voluntary accreditation is desirable. For example, in the United States the FDA registers and inspects Family banks, but does not require them to have a BLA License like Public Banks.
Caveat: The process of registering with an accreditation agency and getting inspected can take a year, so it is understandable if a brand new lab does not have an accreditation yet.
