Access
This article is part of Nature's premium content.
Published online 20 August 2008 | Nature 454, 923 (2008) | doi:10.1038/454923a
News
Unproven stem-cell therapy ban
Bulgarian deputy minister quits over controversial treatment.
The Bulgarian deputy minister for health has resigned over the country's decision to ban the use of a controversial stem-cell therapy to treat neurological disorders.
The therapy, which since 2005 has been carried out on around 250 patients at St Ivan Rilski Hospital in Sofia, contravenes European Union regulations and is of unproven value, the Bulgarian health ministry ruled on 8 August.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Comments
Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email webadmin@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.
What about the oncogene-containing hyper-proliferative iPS (incorrectly programmed stem) cells? Have they been shown safe in animal tests? Why would these cancer-causing cells be regarded as valuable for regenerative medicine?////Shi V. Liu (SVL@logibio.com; http://im1.biz; http://blog.sina.com.cn/im1)
Whether the iPS have been shown to be safe in animal tests evidently, from numerous failed therapies, is of little relevance. If the treatment has not been shown to be effective in clinical trials, that is the best reason to discontinue it.
Whether the iPS have been shown to be safe in animal tests evidently, from numerous failed therapies, is of little relevance. If the treatment has not been shown to be effective in clinical trials, that is the best reason to discontinue it.
If harvesting stem cells from a patient's bone marrow, concentrating and purifying them, then injecting them into the same patient's brain or spinal cord contravenes European Union regulations and is of unproven value, how could converting patient's normal cells into incorrectly programmed stem (iPS) cells breakthrough the regulation and become valuable? That is a relevant point in considering iPS cells for regenerative medicine and also ethics in scientific research.////Shi V. Liu (SVL@logibio.com; http://im1.biz; http://blog.sina.com.cn/im1)