Bill backed by US Sen. Reed will aid bone marrow transplants

December 26, 2015 2:20 pm

By The Associated Press

news@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) _ U.S. Sen. Jack Reed is praising President Barack Obama’s decision to sign a bill he co-sponsored to help patients suffering from diseases requiring bone marrow and cord blood transplants.

The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Re authorization Act renews the National Marrow Donor Program and the National Cord Blood Inventory until 2020.

Reed said the marrow donor program has been a lifeline for thousands of transplant patients.

The Rhode Island Democrat co-sponsored the bill with Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch. Obama recently signed it into law.

Reed said the Rhode Island Blood Center holds bone marrow drives on a weekly basis. Since 1994, Roger Williams Medical Center has been home to Rhode Island’s only Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program.

Reed said bone marrow and cord blood transplants offer effective treatments for a number of diseases and disorders.