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Judge Intervenes In Stem Cell Research By Christine Hall CNSNews.com Staff Writer May 10, 2001 (CNSNews.com) - In the latest skirmish over taxpayer funding of human embryonic research, a U.S. District Court judge on Wednesday stayed implementation of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines for stem cell research until the Bush administration finishes reviewing the Clinton-era rules that provided tax dollars for such research. "The court's action reflects a significant concession by the government," said Thomas G. Hungar, lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the pending lawsuit challenging the NIH guidelines. The Bush administration decided several months ago to essentially reconsider the Clinton administration's interpretation of a federal law prohibiting federal tax dollars to fund embryonic research. Clinton's HHS decided to allow such funding, so long as the embryos themselves were procured with private funds. Pro-life groups, who object to the use of human embryos for scientific research, believe the intent of the law was subverted by the Clinton administration guidelines. They are now looking to the Bush administration to change the NIH guidelines so that researchers who use stem cells from human embryos cannot get federal dollars for their work. "If HHS and NIH fail to comply with the law, the plaintiffs will continue to challenge the illegal guidelines in court," Hungar warned. The court's order also stays further proceedings in the lawsuit brought by a coalition of pro-life groups challenging the funding guidelines. Among the plaintiffs is an adoption agency that arranges for infertile couples to adopt human embryos stored at in vitro fertilization clinics. These "left over" embryos are usually stored and eventually discarded, but some believe it would be better to use the embryos as a source of stem cells for research seeking cures for dreaded diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Recent studies, however, have revealed that stem cells can be obtained from other sources such as human fat cells. http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200105\CUL20010510b.html ********** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn