Lawyer Gains Acclaim for Advocating Stem Cell Research: How She Did It

Summary

Lawyers, a traditional protector of rights, have become more active in science and advocacy, and the movement is growing. This is particularly true in the field of stem cell research and advocacy, which is becoming an increasingly important part of our healthcare system.


Lawyers are at the forefront of the growing movement to ensure the ethical and responsible use of embryonic and adult stem cells to treat and prevent a variety of diseases. As technology advances, scientists are increasingly turning to the legal professions to support their efforts to develop new treatments and therapies.

Lawyers who practice in the fields of bioethics and health law are uniquely suited to advise scientists, institutions and funding sources on how to best protect research subjects and ensure ethical and responsible use of stem cell derived treatments. They can also serve as a bridge between researchers, medical institutions, and the general public, advocating for medical and scientific advancements that are ethical and respectful of human life.

Stem cell research and advocacy has become an important part of healthcare, prompting a need for lawyers to serve as advocates for responsible and ethical use of the technology. In addition to handling legal issues, these lawyers are increasingly involved in representing the interests of the public in regards to stem cell research and advocacy.

Lawyers are extremely valuable to researchers and medical institutions, helping them navigate the complex legal landscape surrounding stem cell research, treatments and therapies. They are also invaluable resources for patients and families, providing legal counsel and advocacy in the challenging area of stem cell research and treatments.

Lawyers who specialize in this field can also help ensure that stem cell research and therapies are ethically and responsibly developed, implemented and regulated. In addition, they can help ensure that the public has access to accurate, up-to-date information regarding stem cell research and treatments.

The growing importance of stem cell research and applications has sparked a need for lawyers to advocate for the responsible, ethical and legal use of the technology. Lawyers are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between scientists and the public by providing representation, counsel and advocacy in this important field. In doing so, lawyers serve as essential resources for responsible and ethical stem cell research and treatments, helping to advance science and make treatments more effective and accessible.
 

Lawyer as a Top Stem Cell Advocate

The number of people who have embraced stem cell research and the potential it holds has grown exponentially over the last decade. This includes a number of lawyers, such as Jeffrey T. Ullman of the Ullman Law Firm, who have become vocal advocates of this type of research. Ullman, who specializes in spinal cord injury cases, including auto and trucking accidents, bicycle and pedestrian accidents, and medical malpractice, has become increasingly passionate about stem cell research and the hope it holds for those with spinal cord injuries.

Ullman, who has more than 15 years of experience in litigating cases on behalf of those affected by spinal cord injuries, has developed an in-depth understanding of the challenges faced by those living with the effects of such an injury. Through his advocacy of stem cell research and its potential to restore hope to those affected by these injuries, Ullman hopes to make a difference in the lives of those in need of help.
 

The Significance of Ullman's Advocacy

Ullman's advocacy of stem cell research is significant. His unique experience and perspective as a lawyer have provided him with a unique insight into the challenges faced by those living with spinal cord injuries. This experience has helped him to understand the potential of stem cell research in helping these individuals recover and improve the quality of their lives. It is this understanding that has motivated Ullman to become a top advocate of stem cell research.

Ullman's advocacy of stem cell research has been extremely effective. He has used his legal knowledge and experience to bring attention to the potential of this type of research and to raise awareness of the issues faced by those with spinal cord injuries. Through his advocacy, Ullman has helped to increase the public's understanding of the potential of stem cells to help restore hope to those affected by spinal cord injuries.

<<Remember the Raelians? The ''UFO-related'' group that claimed to have cloned a baby? The Raelians fooled the world media at a press conference in Hollywood in 2002 and outraged and inspired many with their claim to have cloned the dead child of a West Virginia couple, giving them a new lease on life.

Florida attorney Bernard Siegel, who had handled many family law cases early in his career, was among the outraged. Clonaid, the Raelian's alleged company, was supposedly keeping the cloned baby in hiding, moving it around the world.

For Mr. Siegel, 55, that baby was no different than the missing children on milk cartons, and he had represented parents of those missing children in the past. He filed a lawsuit to get a temporary guardian appointed for the baby. The baby and Clonaid turned out to be hoaxes.

''I chose to file this case as a matter of legal principle,'' Siegel said. ''I thought I'd make a footnote in some law journal, the first case to protect the rights of a cloned human being.''

He didn't realize that case was the beginning of a journey into cloning.

''The upshot of the case was we showed Clonaid was nothing more than a sham. It lacked a street address, it lacked a board of directors, and it had taken half a million dollars from a West Virginia couple to clone their deceased child,'' he said.

The case brought Mr. Siegel in contact with dozens of legitimate scientists interested in cloning, including Ian Wilmut, the lead scientist behind the team who cloned Dolly the sheep.

''Ian and some of the other scientists were very pleased that someone had stood up against folks that they considered charlatans,'' Mr. Siegel said. ''So with that encouragement, I spent quite a bit of time meeting the stakeholders in this cloning, stem-cell debate. I met Leon Kass, the head of the President's Council on Bioethics. I met leaders of biotech. I met leaders of patient-advocacy organizations. And also ordinary folks who were just interested in this subject.''

A temporary leave of absence from his law practice turned into a career change. In March 2003, Mr. Siegel created the Genetics Policy Institute, a nonprofit organization to educate the public about cloning and to seek a legal framework to advance scientific research to cure diseases.

Since then, he has become an international spokesman and advocate for stem-cell research and has lobbied the United Nations not to ban therapeutic cloning. Mr. Siegel, like most every scientist and government in the world, is against reproductive cloning, or cloning cells with the intent of creating a baby. So-called therapeutic cloning involves the creation of human embryos in a lab by taking genetic material from a cell in an adult's body and fusing it with an empty egg cell. It does not involve cloning a carbon copy of a person.

The new cell develops into an embryo, and scientists then mine for embryonic stem cells, which are master cells and have the potential to develop into any type of cell in the body. The hope is that scientists will one day be able to replace damaged tissue in the body from, for example, heart disease. Some hope that eventually stem cells will be used to grow into entirely new organs.

Critics say the process creates life to destroy life and that even discarded embryos from IVF treatments should not be used to harvest stem cells. President Bush is one of the more prominent critics of creating new stem-cell lines from cloned embryos.

Mr. Siegel thinks more people will support therapeutic cloning in the future.

''I think of course when there are clinical breakthroughs or applications that we see from this research, I think a lot of the concerns will evaporate, he said.

He also thinks more states will emulate California, which just passed Proposition 71, a $3-billion funding of stem-cell research.

''When you have bans (on research) to take away hope, what you have is essentially a huge citizens revolt,'' he said of the California vote. ''And the result is we have this colossal proposition that's passed that has made stem-cell research a fundamental right, which is absolutely extraordinary.''

He said his Genetic Policy Institute filled a void in the stem-cell debate.

''What was unique about this was it seemed to be fulfilling a niche, which no one else was doing. Essentially, in a facetious way, I would say I am the only cloning lawyer in the world; unfortunately there are no clients,'' he said. ''There was no one out there really connecting the dots between the stakeholders and trying to put all of this into a legal context necessarily.''

Mr. Siegel, who started his own practice right after graduating from the University of Miami, said he has always been cause driven and that in his practice he often took cases no one else wanted.

He said the institute has had its greatest success when the United Nations shelved proposals in November to ban therapeutic cloning in a worldwide treaty. The U.N. General Assembly plans to discuss the matter again in February, but a treaty is unlikely.

Costa Rica initiated the plan to ban all forms of human cloning, and the initiative was backed by President Bush.

''The Genetics Policy Institute staged a science conference for the United Nations on these issues to illuminate the difference between reproductive cloning, which was unethical and a form of human experimentation, and therapeutic cloning, which offers the hope of cures for millions of people who have Alzheimer's, diabetes, and other afflictions,'' Mr. Siegel said.

He started the institute alone and has since hired an associate director, a quadriplegic woman he met at the University of Miami during a conference on curing paralysis. Mr. Siegel worked briefly with Christopher Reeve on patient advocacy and played a videotaped appeal after the paralyzed Superman star died October.

''I'm doubly motivated not only to be a voice for scientists and scientific research for cures, but also from the standpoint as a voice for patients as well,'' he said. ''I don't envision at this time taking anything to court over this, but you never know. Certainly if there was an issue to litigate, we would be prepared to do so. I think right now it's more of a question of education. We want to make sure that the general population, the key decision makers, and the media understand these issues. That's what we need to do at the moment, and we're doing a good job.''

Mr. Siegel, who had a wide-ranging practice covering personal injury and some sports and entertainment law, said all of his experiences have helped him create the institute. He said he became an attorney because he was very idealistic and felt a law degree would help him change the world.

''I thought I could actually change a few things in the world if I got that law degree,'' he said. ''I've essentially been a solo practitioner my entire career. I hung out my shingle when I got out of school. I suppose I was a bit of an entrepreneur. And I liked doing my own thing.''

He said it would be hard to advise attorneys interested in stem-cell law because there really isn't a field of stem-cell law…yet.

''I think that it's very important for young attorneys to have the broadest experience they can get. If they don't think they're a trial attorney, try a case anyway. Learn as much as you can as early as you can and get the hands-on experience, because you don't know unless you try those things,'' he said. ''And by all means, get inspired. That law degree is so powerful, and it can advance you in all sorts of ways you wouldn't expect. It's still respected in society despite all the lawyer jokes that you might hear. There's so much potential good that a lawyer can do.''