Bioethics Advisers to President Bush ... Fertility Aid Under The Microscope

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bioethics Advisers to President Bush ... Fertility Aid Under The Microscope

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2004

(CBS/AP) Bioethics advisers to President Bush are urging more scrutiny of the 
nation's infertility industry, including
research on the long-term health of test-tube babies.

The President's Council on Bioethics also wants Congress to ban experimental 
procedures that might mix human and animal
embryos ? as well as attempts at conception "by any means other than the union 
of egg and sperm" ? essentially another
call to prohibit reproductive cloning.

But the main focus of the new report, to be formally released Thursday, isn't 
on controversial research ? but on
techniques offered every day to couples seeking fertility help in hundreds of 
clinics around the country.

More than 1 million babies have been born with the help of different in-vitro 
fertilization techniques since the birth
of the first test-tube baby 25 years ago. And with one in six couples thought 
to struggle with infertility, interest is
growing.

Yet the field is subject to minimal regulation and mystery surrounds the 
success rates of different techniques at
different clinics, and even how many people try IVF at what cost.

The council proposed what it called "a series of modest measures" designed to 
improve Americans' information about IVF
choices and to increase federal scrutiny of both IVF and other techniques 
increasingly used.

"This is really the first comprehensive overview of the state of assisted 
reproduction technologies as they stand on
the threshold of being augmented by genetic screening and possibly genetic 
manipulation, sex selection and the like,"
Dr. Leon Kass, the council's chairman, said in an interview Tuesday. "We point 
out the absence of a lot of important
knowledge."

The advisers' recommendations are significantly different from an initial draft 
that last year was condemned by
fertility specialists and patient advocates. They had objected to such 
recommendations as tracking the ultimate fate of
every IVF-created embryo.

Those critics, including the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, 
praised the council for eliminating the
controversial initial provisions.

But they were cautious about the need for legislation and its wording. For 
example, Pamela Madsen of the American
Infertility Association worries that saying a child can be conceived only with 
an egg and sperm could inadvertently
prohibit new IVF techniques that combine the DNA from an older mother's egg 
with supporting material from a younger
donor egg.

"The council appears to have struck a more balanced tone," Madsen said. But 
when it comes to writing legislation, "we
have to watch this very carefully."

The council, which previously has issued reports calling for curbs on cloning, 
recently made headlines when critics
blasted the replacement of a prominent scientist who opposed Mr. Bush's 
restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research.

The council's members remain ideologically divided, and Kass stressed that the 
new report includes only recommendations
that all could agree to.

Among them:
The government should fund studies to monitor the long-term health of IVF 
babies, and health effects of related
techniques such as genetic screening that require removal of cells from the 
tiny days-old embryo. While there aren't
huge health concerns, there are some reports of slightly higher birth-defect 
rates with certain IVF techniques.

Congress should ban the transfer of a human embryo to a woman's uterus for any 
purpose other than to produce a live-
born child; attempts to conceive "by any means other than the union of egg and 
sperm;" production of human-animal
hybrids or the transfer, for any purpose, of a human embryo into an animal's 
womb.

Congress should limit scientific research on human embryos to no more than 10 
to 14 days after fertilization, a
timeframe similar to one Britain mandates. Experts say such research usually 
involves even younger embryos.

The government should require better infertility clinic reporting of how often 
different IVF procedures are used,
genetic embryo screening and gender selection; and average prices, including 
the total cost of the multiple attempts
usually required for a successful pregnancy.
Each IVF attempt can cost thousands of dollars; insurance rarely pays. A 
current government database provides limited
information about clinic success rates that are self-reported.

Stem cells are blank-slate cells that can develop into cells for any part of 
the human body.

Scientists believe stem cells could be vital to cures for Parkinson's and 
Alzheimer's diseases and other conditions,
but abortion rights opponents believe that it is wrong to harvest stem cells 
from frozen embryos.

In August 2001, Mr. Bush banned scientists receiving federal funding from 
conducting research on any stem cells created
after that date.

SOURCE: CBS News


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