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Stem Cell Patent Halts Hospital's Collection
eldavojohn writes "It's a classic case that comes up when dealing with patents. A hospital's research on the donated brains of deceased children has been in limbo for three years because of a challenge from a patent holder. The double-edged sword of patents that spurred investment into the field will also cause chilling effects on research like the case of the Children's Hospital of Orange County. They've now been forced to shift the money from the lab to lawyers in order to deal with this ongoing patent dispute over a technique that was developed to extract stem cells at the Salk Institute. Unfortunately the Salk Institute failed to patent the technology, so a company named StemCells happily had it approved. The real disheartening news is that CHOC's Dr. Philip H. Schwartz — the doctor collecting the cells — was one of the original researchers who helped developed this technique at the Salk Institute. Now he can't even use the technique he helped create. Schwartz has since been instructed not to publicly discuss the case further. Research interests are clashing with commercial interests in a classic case that causes one to wonder if patents surrounding medical techniques like this stretch too far. As for the people that donated their dead child's brain to research, those valuable stem cell cultures have been kept in storage instead of being disseminated to research labs (which desperately need them) across the country."
Hey jackass read the freakin' article. The doctor created the technique used to harvest the stem cells. It's that technique the other company claims to have patented. So the doctor cannot use the very technique he created!
Do you get the picture moron!
From the article: "Schwartz said his nonprofit hospital has no intention of commercializing its discoveries or stealing profits from StemCells."
So again, what's wrong with that. The greedy SOB StemCells - nice name ass-holes - wants to stop people from saving lives because it will cut into their bottom line.
These medical patents need to go.
No one should have the right to patent anything used in the medical field. You create a wonder drug that can cure cancer or something, you have a responsibility as a human being to allow the world to use it.
Besides, if you didn't invent it, screw off.
Funny may not give karma, but +5 Informative never made anyone snort coffee out their nose.
Before we recognize that the patent system harms innovation and society as a whole?
It encourages making money via artificial monopolies instead of what honest participants in a real free market need to do: competitively provide products and services that consumers want.
"When in doubt, use brute force." Ken Thompson