Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Health Law Blogs -> Healthcare Law Blog

Health Law

: Healthcare Law Blog

Stem Cell Research on Again, Time to Celebrate [Guest Editorial]

By Greg Piche'

Among many other things that the Obama administration addresses --one of the most important far reaching actions in my opinion is the go-ahead to stem cell research. This was important scientific research that can help prevent diseases and in the development of better medicine to give a second chance at life to millions of human beings alive today.

Actually I think the ban on stem cells research was on flimsy grounds anyway. How can you let so many people die for the want of better medicine that?s almost within our grasp by not using tissue from discarded embryos. If this logic is extended we might as well stop all heart transplants and posthumous donors.

Moral debate aside, the impact of stem cells in the way we treat many fatal diseases will change the way diseases are treated. With the potential of destroying malignant cancers fighting blood shortages of rare blood types, or even in repair of damaged organs, stem cells can make many life threatening diseases treatable including diseases like Parkinson?s, diabetes, spinal cord injury, heart diseases, etc.

The law does not still allow the cloning of human beings, making using SCNT (Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer) to create human clones illegal. But researchers can work on other applications of stem cells.

The fact is that stem cell research was still going on during even during the last government?s administration. There was active research on stem cells from umbilical cords, though research on stem cells from fetuses was all but stopped.

Countries like Sweden, Singapore and even UK have been more liberal with stem cells research and it is very important that the researchers in the United States are given the same hand as they are.

Ethical stem cells research that only uses discarded fetuses, and is done in close monitoring will create new opportunities without harming the tenuous moral fabric. That is exactly what I am hoping will happen now in America.

This post was contributed by Courtney Phillips, who writes about the certified nursing assistant programs. She welcomes your feedback at CourtneyPhillips80 at gmail.com

 

Full post as published by Healthcare Law Blog on March 26, 2009 (boomark / email).