Anyone interested in contacting our representatives in Washington, D.C. but
don't know the correct addresses, phone numbers and e-mail contacts should
contact the Parkinson's Action Network at parkinsonsaction.org.  Their staff
knows all the important numbers.

Jeanne Lee-Rosner
PDF

----- Original Message -----
From: Leo Fuhr <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 1999 11:20 AM
Subject: Re: NEWS-U.S. Proposes Tight Rules for Stem Cell Studies


> This news article states that NIH will take public comments for 60 days.
> Does anyone know the best forum for commenting to NIH and the address,
> e-mail address or phone # we can use to make the contact?  I'll be in
> Washington DC l/3-1/9 and wonder if there is a person or department at NIH
> I could visit or call to express my view on this research?
>
> Jeanette Fuhr 49/47/44?
>
> ----------
> From: judith richards <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: NEWS-U.S. Proposes Tight Rules for Stem Cell Studies
> Date: Thursday, December 02, 1999 12:15 AM
>
> December 1, 1999
> U.S. Proposes Tight Rules for Stem Cell Studies
> By Lisa Richwine
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. health agency on Wednesday unveiled
> proposals aimed at easing some ethical concerns over government-funded
> controversial research on stem cells from human embryos that scientists
> hope could yield treatments for a range of diseases.
>
> The National Institutes of Health wants to hold researchers using public
> dollars to tight ethical standards and conduct strict oversight of stem
> cell studies, which scientists say hold great promise for medical
> advances but opponents call immoral.
>
> Among its proposals, the NIH would require that cells come from embryos
> donated by people who had them conceived through in-vitro fertilization
> in the hopes of having a baby, and were not made just for research
> purposes.
>
> Also, donors must give informed consent for handing over their unwanted
> embryos to researchers and must not be paid for donating them, the
> agency said. Private companies must harvest the cells.
>
> In addition, the agency wants to prohibit federal funds for research
> that would use stem cells to create a human embryo, to clone a human or
> combine human stem cells with animal embryos.
>
> Despite those restrictions, critics attacked the guidelines as providing
> for government-funded killing of human embryos.
>
> ``For the first time, human embryos would be deliberately killed under
> the sponsorship of the federal government,'' said Douglas Johnson,
> legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, an
> anti-abortion group.
>
> The guidelines pertain to so-called ``pluripotent'' cells, which can
> develop into any kind of cell in the body.
>
> ``NIH understands and respects the ethical, legal and social issues
> relevant to human pluripotent stem cell research,'' the agency said in
> making its proposals.
>
> ``In light of these issues, the NIH plans to move forward in a careful
> and deliberate way prior to funding any research using stem cells.''
>
> The NIH will take public comments for 60 days before issuing final
> guidelines.
>
> Federal law prohibits research on human embryos, but Clinton
> administration officials have said they thought stem cell research would
> be legal if private firms cultivate the cells for studies.
>
> But a U.S. senator said the new guidelines violate federal law.
> Republican Sam Brownback of Kansas called the research ''illegal,
> immoral and unnecessary.''
>
> ``The responsible thing to do is for government to serve human life in
> ways that do not destroy life,'' Brownback said.
>
> Researchers hope that stem cells can grow into tissues or possibly
> complete organs for transplants. They think stem-cell research could
> help fight ailments such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, juvenile diabetes
> or heart disease.
>
> A coalition of health groups that supports stem cell research welcomed
> the NIH proposals, saying the group recognizes the controversy and the
> need for restrictions.
>
> The proposals ``will prompt the inclusion of the most scientists in the
> research, thus speeding the day when therapeutic applications are
> available,'' said Daniel Perry, chairman of the Patients' Coalition for
> Urgent Research.
>
> Copyright © 1996-1999 Reuters Limited.
>
> Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
> [log in to unmask]
>                           ^^^^
>                            \ /
>                          \  |  /   Today's Research
>                          \\ | //         ...Tomorrow's Cure
>                           \ | /
>                            \|/
>                           `````
>
>
>
> Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
> [log in to unmask]
>                           ^^^^
>                            \ /
>                          \  |  /   Today's Research
>                          \\ | //         ...Tomorrow's Cure
>                           \ | /
>                            \|/
>                           `````
>