State to pay up to $10,000 for eggs used in research
Funding to aid studies of embryonic stem cells
As far as medical researchers know, no state ever has allowed taxpayer funds to pay women for donating their eggs for embryonic stem cell research.
New York is about to change that, but how the controversial move will work in practice remains unclear.
The Empire State Stem Cell Board, which was established to oversee $600 million in funding for stem cell research, decided June 11 to allow scientists to use public funds to pay each donor up to $10,000 for the expense, time, burden and discomfort associated with the donation.
The new policy is expected to increase the availability of eggs, known as oocytes, for study and allow scientists to pursue new avenues of research, said Dr. David Hohn, vice chairman of the board’s ethics and funding committees.
“You can’t allow someone to make a profit. But now researchers will have the latitude to inform potential donors that they have the ability to pay for their direct expenses and their time,” he said.
Putting aside the ethical debate over the policy, the board’s compensation policy is modeled after the way donors today can get paid for in vitro fertilization.
But the measure affects only eggs donated specifically for stem cell research. The policy prohibits payments for donations of unused eggs or embryos from in vitro fertilization.
Researchers, moreover, cannot immediately start offering money to potential donors the way some studies solicit subjects in newspaper advertisements.
The new compensation standards
will apply to the next round of applications for funding, which the board is expected to request in the fall.
The board then will review the applications and award funding next year, according to Diane Mathis, spokeswoman for the state Health Department.
The compensation amounts will be based on the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s guidelines for in vitro fertilization. The guidelines deal with the discomfort, time and risks associated with donating eggs to help couples have a baby, as well as the ethical issues raised by paying women to provide eggs.
Total payments of more than $5,000 to a donor require justification, and sums exceeding $10,000 are considered inappropriate.
The Stem Cell Board’s rules call for oversight bodies at each research center to review payments and procedures to avoid such problems as inappropriate financial inducements to donors and to limit the number of times a woman can donate.
These bodies include institutional review boards that monitor research on human subjects, as well as embryonic stem cell research oversight committees that develop policies to ensure stem cell research is responsibly conducted.
“Basic policies will be embedded in individual institutional review boards and [the stem cell committees]. They have ultimate responsibility for guidelines and compliance,” Hohn said.
Depending on their members’ views, different institutional review boards might reach different conclusions about paying donors.
In addition, Mathis said the Health Department plans reviews to ensure compliance with requirements.
Embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into any cell of the body, potentially to create replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases. In diabetics, that could include new cells that produce insulin.
The body contains other types of stem cells, and scientists have discovered how to reprogram certain cells to act like stem cells. But embryonic cells are considered the most promising for delivering new treatments and cures.
Opponents of using embryonic stem cells view destroying the cells for research as the destruction of human life. Advocates have countered that embryonic stem cells usually come from fertility clinics and would be destroyed if not used for research.
The new policy offers more than an alternative source of eggs, said Mark Noble, director of the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
The qualities of embryonic stem cells from a fertilized egg that has not been stored for long periods may prove to be different than those that come frozen from an in vitro fertilization clinic, he said. In addition, allowing scientists to obtain eggs from donors with genetic disorders could open new paths of research into those diseases.
But the field remains in its infancy, and scientists still have much to learn about the biological properties of stem cells.
“We don’t know a lot about the nuances yet. It makes me cautious about talking about what stem cell research can deliver,” Noble said. “However, what motivates us is that there are many horrible diseases with no therapies, and stem cell research offers the best shot we’ve ever had to find treatments for many of these disorders.”
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