Excerpt

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) convened a committee in October 1994 to plan a workshop to consider the scientific and medical feasibility of xenotransplantation and to explore the ethical and public policy issues applicable to the possibility of renewed clinical trials of xenotransplantation. Another area of focus was added in response to increasing concern about the potential risk of animal-to-human disease transmission through xenotransplantation. The three-day workshop was held in late June 1995 and involved 43 speakers and presenters and more than 200 participants. The workshop focused on three major topics: the science base; the public health risks of infectious disease transmission; and the ethical and public policy issues, including the views of patients and their families.

Contents

• Committee on Xenograft Transplantation: Ethical Issues and Public Policy
• Executive Summary
  • Recommendation 1
  • Recommendation 2
  • Recommendation 3
  • Recommendation 4
  • Recommendation 5
  • A Necessary Caveat
• 1. Setting the Stage
  • Introduction
  • Study Process And Report Organization
  • Approaching Questions Of Opportunities And Risks
• 2. Assessing the Science Base
  • Introduction
  • Stages Of The Immune Response
  • Novel Therapeutic Approaches
• 3. Infectious Disease Risk to Public Health Posed by Xenografting
  • Animal Infections and Xenotransplantation
  • Basis For Public Health Concern
  • Methods Of Risk Evaluation
  • Detection Methods
  • Need For A Registry
  • Summary
• 4. Ethics and Public Policy
  • Patients, Ethics, And Society
  • Value And Use Of Animals
  • Economic Issues Regarding Xenotransplants
  • Reviewing And Monitoring Xenotransplantation
• 5. Conclusions and Recommendations
• References
• Appendixes
  • A. Workshop Agenda
  • B. List of Participants
  • C. Immunosuppression in Allotransplantation

The views presented in this report are those of the Committee on Xenograft Transplantation and are not necessarily those of the funding organizations.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.