Treatments using human stem cells to be banned

Dr Somsak Lohlekha

Starting in September when a decree to regulate human stemcell study comes into effect, any hospital or medical school found to be carrying out tests in violation of the rules or without permission will ultimately face withdrawal of medical licence, the Medical Council said yesterday.

Council chairman Dr Somsak Lohlekha said the decree will not allow treatments based on the use of human stem cells. "Only studies or researches in relation to human stem cells will be allowed, with mandatory approval from a national regulatory body," he added.

The decree will regulate study and research into the use of human stem cells in treating all diseases, especially those involving dermatology, treatment of veins, organ trans¬plants, and all heartrelated diseases, expect for bone marrow transplant and blood disorders, which have been practised.

The decree will be regulated mainly by a national body, which would be set up later and comprise exofficio members from various professions, including representatives from the Supreme Court and the Law Society of Thailand.

The Public Health Ministry and the Food and Drugs Administration will enforce regulations under the decree.

The Medical Council has just completed its final version of the decree and will scrutinise it at its major meeting next month. The decree is expected to come into effect after a threemonth process.

During the process, Somsak said many medical schools had opposed the decree, saying it would affect stemcell studies in Thailand, but all parties had finally reached an agreement in finally promulgating the decree.

The Medical Council will soon make an announcement encouraging members of the public or companies to stop storing their own stem cells from umbilical cords for future use, because the storage of such cells was costly and becoming outdated, as the general stem cells could now be extracted from other body parts.

Somsak said the storage of stemcell umbilical cords in the US had been discontinued many years ago.