AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68, Chapter 32, relative to blood donations.
HB2166 would add a new section to Tennessee’s blood donation laws requiring blood banks and hospitals to comply with a physician’s order for either an autologous blood donation or a directed blood donation for a specific patient. An autologous donation is a person donating their own blood for later use, while a directed donation is blood set aside in advance for a named patient before a planned medical procedure. The bill applies to whole blood and blood products, including platelets, red blood cells, white blood cells, and serum.
The measure also allows blood banks and hospitals to charge a reasonable and necessary administrative fee for facilitating these donations, but it expressly preserves all existing federal and state requirements for donor eligibility, testing, labeling, screening, storage, and compatibility. Hospitals may refuse the donation only if it is medically contraindicated or incompatible with safety standards. The bill would take effect July 1, 2026.
HB2166 would amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68, Chapter 32, by creating a new statutory requirement for blood banks and hospitals to honor physician-ordered autologous and directed blood donations for scheduled medical procedures. It would affect hospitals, blood banks, physicians, and patients seeking prearranged blood for surgery or other procedures, while leaving intact all existing blood safety and testing rules under state and federal law. The bill also authorizes limited administrative fees for processing these donations.
The available voting history suggests limited support in committee, as the bill failed in the House Health Subcommittee by a 1-4 vote. No committee transcript is available, so there is no recorded debate to indicate broader support or opposition arguments. Based on the text, the bill appears aimed at expanding patient access to prearranged blood donations while preserving safety standards, but it did not advance out of subcommittee.
The main points of contention are likely the mandate that blood banks and hospitals comply with physician orders for directed or autologous donations, and whether such a requirement could create operational, logistical, or safety burdens. Opponents may have been concerned about administrative costs, compatibility with existing blood supply procedures, or the ability of hospitals to refuse only when medically contraindicated. Supporters would likely emphasize patient choice, advance planning for medical procedures, and the bill’s explicit preservation of all safety and screening requirements.