Opponents of taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research lost a key round in a U.S. appeals court Friday.
In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the court of appeals in Washington overturned a judge's order that would have blocked federal financing of stem cell research. The judges ruled that opponents are not likely to succeed in their lawsuit to stop the government funding.
The White House praised the ruling. "Today's ruling is a victory for our scientists and patients around the world who stand to benefit from the groundbreaking medical research they're pursuing," Nicholas Papas, a White House spokesman, said.
Researchers hope one day to use stem cells in ways that cure spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease and other ailments. Opponents say the research is a form of abortion because human embryos must be destroyed to obtain the stem cells.
A federal judge ruled last year that the U.S. National Institutes of Health guidelines on such research violated the law against federal funding of embryo destruction and it put other researchers working with adult stem cells at a competitive disadvantage for federal grants.
The 1996 law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars in work that harms an embryo, so private money has been used to cull batches of the cells. Those batches can reproduce in lab dishes indefinitely. President Barack Obama lifted the restriction in 2009 and asked the NIH to decide which embryonic stem cells could be used in taxpayer-funded research.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted an injunction against such research funding. But it was put on hold pending appeal so federal money continued to flow after the Obama administration warned that millions of dollars in research would be ruined.
The appeals court ruled Friday that Lamberth's injunction would impose a substantial hardship on stem cell researchers at NIH, particularly because it would stop multi-year projects already underway. The appellate judges also noted that Congress has re-enacted the 1996 embryo-protection law, called the Dickey-Wicker amendment, year after year with the knowledge that the government has been funding embryonic stem cell research since 2001 — evidence that Congress considers funding of such research permissible.
The case emerged from two researchers who opposed work with embryonic stem cells and sued to block such funding. They argued that they were squeezed out of federal grants for their own work with adult stem cells.
The researchers, Dr. James Sherley, a biological engineer at Boston Biomedical Research Institute, and Theresa Deisher, of Washington-based AVM Biotechnology, could appeal the ruling to the full appeals court or to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Advanced Cell Technology and Geron Corp are the only two U.S. companies in advanced stages of testing human embryonic stem cells. Many other companies are pursuing aspects of stem cell research including Athersys Inc, NeuralStem, Aastrom Biosciences Inc, Stemcells Inc, Reneuron Group Plc, Osiris Therapeutics Inc, Neostem Inc, Cytori Therapeutics Inc, iZumi Bio Inc and International Stem Cell Corp.
The majority opinion was written by Judge Douglas Ginsburg, nominated to the court by President Ronald Reagan, and supported by Judge Thomas Griffith, a nominee of President George W. Bush. The dissent came from Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, a nominee of President George H.W. Bush.
Henderson said she agreed with the lower court judge that the lawsuit was likely to succeed and said her colleagues "perform linguistic jujitsu" by taking a straightforward case and issuing an unnecessarily complicated 21-page ruling "that would make Rube Goldberg tip his hat."
As a result of the appellate ruling Friday, the original lawsuit can continue before Judge Lamberth, but the taxpayer-funded research also will go on. Lamberth has not thus far either held a trial or issued a final ruling, which he could do based on court filings without taking testimony.
"We're thrilled with this decision and look forward to allowing federally funded scientists to continue with their work without political constraints," said Sean Tipton, a spokesman for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Once the cells are culled, they can reproduce in lab dishes indefinitely. So government policies said using taxpayer dollars to work with the already-created batches of cells is allowed.
The Obama administration has expanded the number of stem cell lines created with private money that federally funded scientists could research, up from the 21 that President George W. Bush had allowed to at least 75 so far. To qualify, parents who donate the original embryo must be told of other options, such as donating to another infertile woman.
Human embryonic stem cells come from days-old embryos and can produce any type of cell in the body. Opponents argue, usually on religious grounds, that the research is unacceptable because it damages or destroys human embryos.
