Legal Updates: DNA Databases, Human Gene Patents, Octomom’s Doctor
The past few weeks have seen a number of legal developments involving reproductive and genetic technologies. In late December, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer denied a request by the ACLU to suspend enforcement of Proposition 69 while the civil liberties group challenges the new law’s constitutionality. Prop. 69 was a voter initiative leading to a new California state law requiring people merely arrested for felonies to submit DNA samples. The ACLU’s other challenges to the law are still proceeding.
Later this month, a United States District Judge in New York is set to hear arguments over another lawsuit brought by the ACLU to challenge the patentability of human genes. At issue is the legality of Myriad Genetics’ patents for the BRCA1 and BRCA 2 genes, which are associated with breast and ovarian cancer. The Los Angeles Times recently ran an editorial generally supportive both of the ACLU ’s argument and of a Congressional effort, led by Representative Xavier Becerra (D-CA), to bar future patents on human genes.
Lastly, the Medical Board of California has accused Dr. Michael Kamrava, Nadya Suleman’s (aka “the Octomom”) fertility doctor, of gross negligence for actions leading to the birth of her octuplets. The complaint notes that Kamrava transferred an unwarranted number of embryos – beyond current guidelines – and failed to seek a mental health evaluation for Suleman. Kamrava’s license to practice medicine is at stake. His attorney responded by noting that the current guidelines on embryo transfer are not laws that bind physicians and that nothing requires doctors to refer patients for mental health evaluations.