The intense desire for a “cure” in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) has resulted in the transplantation of stem cells and embryonic and other cell types into the injured spinal cord to enable limb function. We review the ethical issues concerning the procurement and use of embryonic stem cells. A brief survey of the current state of human SCI transplantation is presented. We explore the interface between basic science and the clinical management of SCI and discuss the ethical issues of therapy. At what point is it ethical to conduct human experiments when the experimental data is still at an early stage of development? Is it ethical to perform these operations on a vulnerable group of patients without adequate scientific controls and analysis of the results? Motor neuroprosthetics is developing rapidly and will enable limb movement controlled by the paralyzed patient and other device control such as wheelchairs and communication boards. How can there be a more equitable distribution of such expensive technology and other treatments of SCI? Both clinicians and scientists should be mindful of these complex ethical issues when undertaking pioneering therapies for patients with SCI.
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Original Article|
July 30 2008
The Ethics of the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury: Stem Cell Transplants, Motor Neuroprosthetics, and Social Equity
Jeffrey Rosenfeld;
Jeffrey Rosenfeld
1
Department of Surgery and Department of Neurosurgery, Monash University and The Alfred Hospital Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Prateek Bandopadhayay;
Prateek Bandopadhayay
2
Department of Neurosurgery, The Alfred Hospital Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Tony Goldschlager;
Tony Goldschlager
3
Department of Neurosurgery, The Alfred Hospital Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Douglas Brown
Douglas Brown
4
Spinal Cord Service, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
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Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil (2008) 14 (1): 76–88.
Citation
Jeffrey Rosenfeld, Prateek Bandopadhayay, Tony Goldschlager, Douglas Brown; The Ethics of the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury: Stem Cell Transplants, Motor Neuroprosthetics, and Social Equity. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil 1 July 2008; 14 (1): 76–88. doi: https://doi.org/10.1310/sci1401-76
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