Stem cells: U.S.-funded research can continue, judge rules

By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog

July 27, 2011 12 AM PT

The U.S. government can continue to fund embryonic stem cell research, a U.S. district judge ruled in Washington Wednesday morning.

For the Record, 1:14 p.m. July 27: An earlier version of this online article incorrectly said a U.S. district judge ruled on stem cells on Tuesday. The ruling happened Wednesday

The decision, from Judge Royce C. Lamberth, threw out a 2009 lawsuit challenging an Obama administration policy expanding funding for the research, which had been limited under President George W. Bush. The plaintiffs, researchers Dr. James Sherley and Theresa Deishler, argued that funding embryonic stem cell research violated federal law.

At first, Judge Lamberth agreed with them, ordering an injunction in August 2010 to stop the research while the case continued.

Funding for the work was halted, stoking uncertainty for scientists. Many worried that not knowing what backing would be available would have a chilling effect on research that aimed to find cures for a variety of common conditions, including Alzheimer’s and heart disease.

Within weeks, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned Lamberth’s injunction, writing that the plaintiff’s case was unlikely to succeed. In Wednesday’s ruling, Lamberth deferred to the appeals court’s interpretation of the law.

Sherley and Deishler can appeal the ruling, though they’ll first have to face a court -- the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia -- that has already ruled against their argument.

For the time being, advocates for stem cell research rejoiced.

“Today’s ruling should finally put an end to any legal questions over the federal government’s ability to fund human embryonic stem cell research,” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said, in a statement. “A cloud over this promising scientific field has been lifted.”

Stem cells: U.S.-funded research can continue, judge rules

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