Science / Medicine : Stanford OKs Ethics of Fetal Tissue Use

The Stanford University Medical Center has concluded that it is ethical to use tissue from aborted fetuses for research as long as guidelines are in place to avoid encouraging more abortions.

The decision marks the first time a major U.S. medical facility has published a position on the controversial use of fetal tissue for research.

The center’s Committee on Ethics, in a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, said that “subject to certain important conditions, ethical considerations allow the appropriate medical use of human fetal tissue.”

“It is important to continue to use fetal tissue in medical research and eventually in treatment as long as we provide appropriate safeguards,” said Dr. Thomas Raffin, an associate professor of medicine at Stanford who chaired the committee.

Medical researchers believe that tissue from aborted fetuses may be useful for treating a variety of diseases, including the devastating brain disorder Parkinson’s disease and diabetes.

At least three American Parkinson’s patients have had fetal brain tissue transplanted into their brains.

The government issued a moratorium last May on the use of federal money for fetal tissue research pending a review of such questions.

A National Institutes of Health panel concluded in December that fetal tissue use was ethical, but action on the report is awaiting approval from the Department of Health and Human Services.