Treatments Using Human Stem Cells To Be Banned

[george]

Treatments using human stem cells to be banned

Violating order could lead to medical licence being withdrawn

BANGKOK: -- Starting in September when a decree to regulate human stemcell study comes into effect, any hospital or medical school found to be carrying out tests in violation of the rules or without permission will ultimately face withdrawal of medical licence, the Medical Council said yesterday.

Council chairman Dr Somsak Lohlekha said the decree will not allow treatments based on the use of human stem cells. "Only studies or researches in relation to human stem cells will be allowed, with mandatory approval from a national regulatory body," he added.

The decree will regulate study and research into the use of human stem cells in treating all diseases, especially those involving dermatology, treatment of veins, organ transฌplants, and all heartrelated diseases, expect for bone marrow transplant and blood disorders, which have been practised.

The decree will be regulated mainly by a national body, which would be set up later and comprise exofficio members from various professions, including representatives from the Supreme Court and the Law Society of Thailand.

The Public Health Ministry and the Food and Drugs Administration will enforce regulations under the decree.

The Medical Council has just completed its final version of the decree and will scrutinise it at its major meeting next month. The decree is expected to come into effect after a threemonth process.

During the process, Somsak said many medical schools had opposed the decree, saying it would affect stemcell studies in Thailand, but all parties had finally reached an agreement in finally promulgating the decree.

The Medical Council will soon make an announcement encouraging members of the public or companies to stop storing their own stem cells from umbilical cords for future use, because the storage of such cells was costly and becoming outdated, as the general stem cells could now be extracted from other body parts.

Somsak said the storage of stemcell umbilical cords in the US had been discontinued many years ago.

-- The Nation 2009-05-25

[Scott]

I don't exactly understand what the Medical council's intent is. As I understand it, they can do research, but can't use most procedures.

Comments on the impact of this from some of the medical savy posters would be appreciated.

[TAWP]

Ba-ba-ba-backwards machine, engaged!

[khundon]

Typical Thai gobbledy gook.

Here's my head, my ass is coming.

Of course the Thai medical budget has money to spend on stem cell research but then throw away any valuable products or techniques that they may discover.

Bunch of <deleted>.

[A_Traveller]

This has more to do, I suspect, with the commercial exploitation of this still nascent procedure by companies here. In some cases they advertise the procedure targeting the US, explaining that the technique is not FDA [uS] approved but is doable here. The problem is that the procedure is still very experimental and whilst cardiologists in the EU are pressing for full clinical double blind trials for similar procedures the detailed medical evidence is, at best sketchy.

One potential issue is that the process used here is based on extracting possibly suitable structures from a patient's blood, whereas the clinical work is focused on bone marrow sourced material.

So maybe not so foolish after all.

Regards

[brahmburgers]

This smells like over-influence from right wing American interests - i.e. conservative Christians, which have disproportionate influence over Thai politics via their influence on how US congress acts, their influence on big bucks charity organizations (many of which have US right wing christian members on their boards) - which in turn shovel money to Thailand, which in turn influences Thai politics.

Maybe I sound like a conspiracy nut, but take a look at many official policies within Thailand: Their drug laws, for example: ....are articulated note for note like US drug laws. Same for tobacco laws, for abortion policies, ....you name it (with a few exceptions, such as lese majeste, and official Thai tolerance for dead-beat dads).

Even though the US gov't is leaning towards a more liberal official policy re; stem cell research, Thailand is expected to be years behind the times - so their official policies on things, which mirror US policies, are often lag by months/years/decades, which is a testament to Thai slowness on official matters. Indeed, Thailand has had an essentially non-functional government for the past several years. One example: the Preah Vihar temple imbroglio. The Cambodian gov't had given official notice to the UN months earlier (...of it's intent to seek World Heritage status). Thai officialdom didn't even know of that international maneuvering until months later.

Edited May 26, 2009 by brahmburgers

[geriatrickid]

I don't exactly understand what the Medical council's intent is. As I understand it, they can do research, but can't use most procedures.

Comments on the impact of this from some of the medical savy posters would be appreciated.

When I saw this article I was going to launch a blistering attack on stupidity, but I did some checking and realize that something has been lost in the message. The issue isn't stem cord blood. Rather it is the source of the stem cells used for research. The initial source of pluripotent stem cells (these are the cells that develop into the multiple types of human cells) was initial stage human embryos, basically less than 5 days old. Some researchers have obtained their stem cells from the human fetus. You get these cells from a fresh embryo or fetus. If the source is still alive, once the cells are harvested, the tissue then dies.

Unfortunately, there is a bioethics issue that has to be dealt with, specifically that of how the stem cells are obtained. Do you collect them from embryos made to order? If so, it's not acceptable under currently accepted bioethic principles in most countries. (I believe China does not follow these rules.) As you know, abortion isn't exactly encouraged in Thailand and there is a large segment of the population opposed to the practice of living tissue harvest, particularly the religious community (Buddhists). There are legitimate means of collecting the cells without specifically causing the death of an embryo or a fetus. I think the new rules are an attempt to ensure that there is no factory farming of the tissue. If that's the case, Thailand is following the same path as the EU, Canada, Australia, USA and Israel, all of which have major research projects underway.

The subject matter and issues involved may have overwhelmed the reporter. Understandable, because I too have a hard time following the arguments between researchers and bioethic lawyers and philosphers. It's a major moral dilemma for some people.

Edited May 26, 2009 by geriatrickid

[Scott]

Thanks geriatickid. I am superficially aware of the pros and cons and the ethical issues. You helped clarify it further. I tend to believe the journalist was overwhelmed and probably in a muddle. Language issues may further complicate it.

If you hear anything else, please post the info. Again, thanks.