education ethics
 

welcome

Meeting: Stem Cells - Therapy or scam?
Wednesday 22nd April 2009. Audio from meeting

A meeting to help policy makers, patient group representatives and other vested interests to better understand what stem cells are, how different kinds of stem cells do different things, and what different stem cells can realistically be used for scientifically and medically.

Speakers:
Stephen MacMahon, Irish Patients Association
Dr Stephen Sullivan, Trinity College Dublin
Brock Reeve, Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Dr Orla Hardiman, Beaumount Hospital
Stephen Costello, Irish Medicines Board
Dr Hiram Chipperfield, Era Consulting Ltd
Dr Fionnuala Gough, University of Manchester

  • 0.00 Irish patients association address
  • 16.01 Introduction of speakers
  • 20.50 Brock Reeve - Role of patient advocasy and patient groups Overview, science and politics
  • 25.50 Cells vs drugs (cells much harder to get to clinic as lots more can go wrong) Stem cells in the news, drugs might come faster from new stem cell research than cell based therpaies
  • 28.20 China baby case, AMD clinical trials, 73 treatment claim by Family Research Council
  • 29.50 What are stem cells and why should we care?
  • 31.30 Challenge of studying disease where diagnosis is years after the triggers of disease occurs
  • 32.20 Definition of a stem cell
  • 32.22 Different properties of adult and embryonic stem cells
  • 34.26 Different properties of reprogrammed skin cells and embryonic stem cells, why embryonic stem cells needed
  • 36.56 Blood stem cells (Chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants used for 50 years)
  • 38.00 Dr Orla Hardiman - Neural stem cells, overestimation of what we think we know
  • 40.10 Neuromuscular junction, unforeseen challenges associated with treated Duchene Muscular Dystrophy, Spinal Injury
  • 41.22 Can a cure in mouse lead to a cure in human? Clinical translation studies
  • 47.10 What is a stem cell therapy?
  • 47.50 The word 'treatment' does not inherently mean it will be effective or safe
  • 48.40 Patrick Costello Irish Medicines Board: What they do and cases of stem cell scams in Ireland they have been involved in in the past
  • 1.02 History of stem cell scams in Ireland demonstrates the need for better legislation
  • 1.03 Dr Hiram Chipperfield Treatment effectiveness, risk assessment, validation
  • 1.17 What is the purpose of a clinical trial?
  • 1.19 Participation in clinical trials using experimental cell based treatments
  • 1.19 Gate keepers of therapy: who decides what risk is acceptible
  • 1.20 International society for stem cell research (biggest group of scientists and clinicians worldwide - www.isscr.org) offers lists of clinical trials worldwide and the confirmed therapies that have been accepted based on scientific evidence
  • 1.21 Clinical trials should not cost you the patient money to participate in
  • 1.22 What stem cell trials are currently ongoing
  • 1.24 Spinal cord injury: conductivity of impulse, support of neuron, phase 1 clinical trials by Geron
  • 1.27 Geron clinical trials: clinical trials phase 1, 2 and 3
  • 1.29 Confidentiality, apparent lack of transparency of clinical trials to the outside world
  • 1.30 The need, importance of regulation in this area
  • 1.32 Transparency of assessment, reports, risk benefit analysis
  • 1.33 Stem cells not as cell replacement but as research tools for drug screening and understanding the causes of disease
  • 1.35 Indirect use of stem cells as a research tool, could be of quicker benefit to the patient
  • 1.36 An example Gavin Davey's project at Trinity: Using reprogrammed skin cells as a platform for styudying Parkinson's disease
  • 1.41 Legislation of stem cell research in Ireland
  • 1.43 Stimulating stem cells in the patient directly
  • 1.44 Harvest stem cells helps understanding of stem cells in vivo
  • 1.45 Haematology, stem cells and niches
  • 1.47 Umbillical cord blood storage: the evidence that it will be useful is just in not there in many cases
  • 1.49 Fionnula Gough -  Legal situation in Ireland
  • 1.51 Where no moral consensus, law needed to direct behaviour
  • 1.53 How the uniqueness of Irish situation is hurting Irish patients
  • 1.54 Absence of legislation unsatisfactory
  • 1.54 Consensus on biotechnology issues needs to be established Article 40.3.3.
  • 1.55 Definition of the unborn
  • 1.56 2006 High court case on pre implantation embryos from IVF
  • 1.58 Court implements law not morality
  • 1.59 Supreme court case now sitting
  • 2.01 Concluding...
  • 2.02 No regulation of IVF business, need for consistancy between laws
  • 2.03 Implanting embryos to satisfy law but in doing to increasing the risk of failure and in some cases cancer
  • 2.04 IVF: 20 years of running away from goverance
  • 2.06 The law needs to be sorted out
  • 2.06 Personal beliefs: laws should respect the rites of people with different personal beliefs
  • 2.08 Science always ahead of law
  • 2.09 Individuals rite to automy vs regulation by experts
  • 2.11 Insuring best information is communicated to the masses
  • 2.11 No scientific medical basis for 73 stem cell treatments, and the damage this causes
  • 2.13 Decline of science and medical journalism (Rise of Unsubstantiated bloggers)
  • 2.15 You should be excited about stem cells but be realistic
  • 2.16 Battling against contraversy seeking media
  • 2.17 False hope equally damaging
  • 2.18 More engagement means more research and cures come quicker
  • 2.20 Beginning of wider discussion