FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HEMATOLOGISTS SUPPORT HOUSE AND SENATE EFFORTS
TO EASE STEM CELL RESTRICTIONS
(WASHINGTON, June 22, 2004) – The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has joined with a coalition of 142 organizations to ask President Bush to loosen the restrictions his administration placed on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research in 2001.
In a letter sent to the president this week, the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) urged President Bush to expand the current federal policy on embryonic stem cell research. Warning that more than 100 million Americans currently suffer from diseases that stem cells have the potential to treat, the CAMR letter calls for an increase in the number of stem cell lines readily available to researchers.
On August 9, 2001, President Bush announced that federal funds could be used to study only embryonic stem cells lines derived by that date. While it originally appeared that 78 embryonic stem cell lines would be available for research under this policy, only 19 lines are currently available.
CAMR’s position echoes the letters recently sent to President Bush from members of both the House of Representatives and Senate. On April 28, more than 200 members of the House signed a letter supporting relaxed restrictions on stem cell research. A majority of the Senate followed up with a similar letter on June 4.
“The White House cannot overlook the impressive support from 206 representatives, 58 senators, and 142 nationally-recognized patient and scientific organizations, who are all calling for an increase in the number of embryonic stem cell lines eligible for federal funding,” said ASH President Stanley L. Schrier, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology at Stanford University School of Medicine. “With the current restrictions in this country, many promising stem cell researchers are being forced to move overseas to conduct this critical research. It is a shame for the U.S. to fall behind in this area of research. Of perhaps even greater importance is the reality that our patients who suffer from devastating hematological diseases could benefit from stem cell research. Federal funding for additional embryonic stem cell lines will move us in the right direction.”
As an organization of physicians who care for desperately ill patients and scientists devoted to understanding the basic mechanisms of disease and discovering new therapies, ASH believes that embryonic stem cell research offers an unprecedented chance for scientists to develop new methods to treat many of the most deadly and debilitating diseases. ASH's policy on stem cell research and cloning reaffirms the Society's commitment to federal funding of both embryonic and adult stem cell research but questions the genetic diversity and current availability of the embryonic stem cell lines covered under the Bush administration's policy. We emphasize that ASH's policy supports efforts to prohibit the cloning of a human being but opposes an outright ban on all somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) experiments. The Society also emphasizes that SCNT experiments cannot result in the cloning of a human being.
Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO), Michael Castle (R-DE), James Langevin (D-RI), and Christopher Shays (R-CT) (left to right) discuss efforts to increase the number of embryonic stem cell lines that are eligible for federal funding at a June 23, 2004, press conference sponsored by the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR). ASH is a member of CAMR.
The American Society of Hematology (www.hematology.org) is the world's largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders. Its mission is to further the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting blood, bone marrow, and the immunologic, hemostatic, and vascular systems, by promoting research, clinical care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology.
Members of the media are invited to attend the 46th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, scheduled for December 4-7, 2004, in San Diego, Calif. For more information, please visit www.hematology.org/news/.
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