This journal article examines the risks patients face in seeking experimental stem cell-based interventions from clinics outside the United States. The authors advocate for new public policies that encourage patients to remain in clinical trials in the U.S.
Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Ana S. IltisNovember 4, 2015
While the Food and Drug Administration currently regulates storage and use of cord blood (CB) in the United States, other state and federal guidelines on CB education, awareness and ethical considerations remain variable, and no mandatory international guidelines exist. To help organize and coordinate efforts across the United States and other nations, policymakers should implement regulations for high quality standards for both private and public CB banks.
Monica M. Matsumoto, Kirstin R.W. MatthewsAugust 4, 2015
Regenerative medicine and stem cell research are exciting new fields. But as the fields progress toward clinical therapies, controversies emerge. Hype surrounding stem cell research has caused an increase in their use in interventions that are not clinically proven. Furthermore, the regulatory agencies have a lot of difficulty dealing with cell therapies, which are distinctly different from drugs and medical devices they more commonly approve. To move the field forward, advocates, regulators and scientists need to come together to find new options for stem cell research oversight that protects both the patients and the research field.
In addition to their therapeutic potential, cord blood banks raise ethical and regulatory questions, especially in emerging markets in the Arab world. In this article, the authors review cord blood banking in five countries in the region (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates) that were selected for their different CB banking policies and initiatives.
Monica M. Matsumoto, Rana Dajani, Kirstin R.W. MatthewsFebruary 13, 2015
Biotechnology scientists must be aware of the broad patent landscape and push for new patent and licensing guidelines, according to a new paper from the Baker Institute.
Enhancement of American science, technology, engineering, and math education (STEM) at all levels, even early childhood, is a justifiable federal priority.
Kirstin R.W. Matthews, George RomarSeptember 19, 2013
Analyzing over 2,800 articles from the top journals that include stem cell research in their publications, this study demonstrates the globalization of stem cell science.
Every patient with cancer or another life-threatening disease wants the most effective treatment, but drug prices have become staggering. What determines the escalating prices of cancer drugs?
Donald Light, Hagop M. KantarjianSeptember 3, 2013
For both generic and patented cancer drugs, the free-market economy has not worked well. Solutions are needed to maintain reasonable drug prices that allow for corporate profits and are affordable to patients and to the U.S. health care system.
Hagop M. Kantarjian, Leonard A. ZwellingAugust 26, 2013
The emphasis is on the deterioration of the participation of the political institutions and politicians before the citizenry in Costa Rica, which shows a process of exhaustion, loss of legitimacy of institutions and actors. This process goes back a few decades and shows no sign, in the short term, of the emergence of new structures in the political system. This paper systematizes the morphology of exhaustion and identifies the trends in which the reform can be based. Such reform should be based on constitutional engineering and should support the political reform process from the tendencies of change that are expressed in the political system. Published in Revista Derecho Electoral, December 2013. In Spanish only.