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Council on Scientific Affairs and Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs

JAMA. 1990;263(4):565-570.

Abstract
Fetal tissue transplantation has been attempted for a limited number of clinical disorders, including Parkinson's disease, diabetes, immunodeficiency disorders, and several metabolic disorders. Fetal tissue has intrinsic properties— ability to differentiate into multiple cell types, growth and proliferative ability, growth factor production, and reduced antigenicity—that make it attractive for transplantation research. At this time the results from fetal tissue grafts for Parkinson's disease and diabetes have not demonstrated significant long-term clinical benefit to patients with these disorders. Further research will be necessary to determine the potential value of fetal tissue transplantation. For these clinical investigations to proceed, specific ethical guidelines are needed to ensure that fetal tissue derived from elective abortions is used in a morally acceptable manner. These guidelines should separate, to the greatest extent possible, the decision by a woman to have an abortion from her consent to donate the postmortem tissue for transplantation purposes. Such ethical guidelines are offered in this report.

(JAMA. 1990;263:565-570)

Author Affiliations
From the Council on Scientific Affairs and the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, American Medical Association, Chicago, III.

Footnotes
This report was submitted to the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association at the June 1989 Annual Meeting as a policy report of the Council on Scientific Affairs and the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs.

This report is not intended to be construed or to serve as a standard of medical care. Standards of medical care are determined on the basis of all of the facts and circumstances involved in an individual case and are subject to change as scientific knowledge and technology advance and patterns of practice evolve. This report reflects the views of scientific literature as of June 1989.

Reprint requests to the Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association, 535 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60610 (William R. Hendee, PhD).

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