Earlier this week, U.S. biotech giant Amgen announced it was buying DeCODE Genetics for $415 million, thus apparently ending that company’s “interesting” 16 year ride. See this article in Genome Web Daily (access requires free registration). Read the rest of this entry »
A Minor Update on the Sherley Human Embryonic Stem Cell Case
The long-running saga of Sherley v. Sebelius – the challenge by two adult stem cell researchers (and initially others) to federal funding for hESC research, founded mainly on the Dickey-Wicker amendment – may finally be nearing an end. When the case was last seen, the DC Circuit, acting through a quite conservative panel of three judges, had ruled against the plaintiffs, upholding the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the government. The opinions were split in somewhat odd and interesting ways (see the discussion in my most recent – and ninth – blog post on this case, from August 30, 2012, here). As that post pointed out, the plaintiffs could then seek rehearing en banc from the entire DC Circuit or file a petition for certiorari, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review their case. Read the rest of this entry »
A Constitutional right to sell the date rape drug to 8 year-olds
In 1993, the FDA approved a drug called Neurontin for use – in doses of up to 1800 mg per day – as an add-on (or “adjunctive”) therapy for partial complex seizures. Doesn’t sound like a blockbuster drug, does it?
Well, you’d be surprised. Parke-Davis earned more than $3 billion in Neurontin sales in 2004 alone. How did they do it? Let’s listen in on a motivational speech a Parke-Davis executive gave to the company’s marketing managers: Read the rest of this entry »
2013 CLB Workshop Series
Beginning in January, CLB will host its annual Workshop Series. The Workshop brings leading law professors and other academics from throughout the U.S. to present papers of interest to Stanford students, faculty, and members of the community. In previous years, the the Workshop has covered a variety of topics at the intersection of law and the biosciences, including bio-patents, DNA privacy, reproductive rights, science policy, bioethics, health insurance, neuro-law, and others.
The 2013 CLB Workshop Series will be hosted here, at Stanford Law School, and begin on January 8, 2013. All talks run from 4:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.; rooms will be posted closer to the talks’ dates. The Workshop is open to all students, faculty, and members of the Stanford community.
2013 CLB Workshop Series Schedule
January 8, Peter Lee (UC Davis)
“Transcending the Tacit Dimension: Patents, Relationships, and Organizational Integration in Technology Transfer”
January 15, Robert P. Merges (UC Berkeley)
“Patents and Drugs for the Developing World”
January 22, Patrick Lin (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)
“Do Bio-Enhancements Violate the Laws of War?”
January 29, Andrea Roth (UC Berkeley)
“Modern Times: Rethinking Legal Sufficiency in an Era of Truth Machines”
February 5, Alex Capron (USC)
“Rethinking Informed Consent for Research”
February 7, Nita Farahany (Duke)
“On Cognitive Liberty”
February 19, Susan M. Wolf (Minnesota)
“Return of Results and Incidental Findings to Research Participants: A Fundamental Challenge to Health Law and Bioethics”
February 26, Carl Elliot (Minnesota)
“Fear and Loathing in Medical Research”
March 5, R. Alta Charo (Wisconsin)
“Faster, Safer, Better? Alternative Approaches to Drug Development”
November Podcast
CLB’s November podcast is now up for your listening pleasure. In it, we discuss the DNA collection cases and the Fourth Amendment; recent news reports on so-called “three parent” children; genetic therapy for clinical use; and a run down of bioscience-related ballot proposals and the election. Enjoy!
VIDEO: Sports, Head Trauma, & Neuroscience
Last week we hosted an afternoon talk on the emerging neuroscience of sports-related brain injuries. The event featured Dr. Gary Steinberg, chair of the Stanford Department of Neurosurgery and former team neurosurgeon to the San Francisco 49ers, and Dr. Daniel C. Garza, assistant professor in Stanford’s departments of orthopedic surgery and of surgery (emergency medicine) and current medical director for the San Francisco 49ers. Our own Hank Greely moderated. Video from this event is now available on our YouTube page:
Jacob Sherkow on DNA profiles vs. sequences
CLB fellow Jacob Sherkow has penned an op-ed for Cleveland’s Plain Dealer analyzing a recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling on DNA collection by law enforcement. The court ruled that the State can keep DNA collected from arrestees, even if they are subsequently acquitted of the crimes for which they were arrested. As Jake explains, the court’s analysis, which distinguished between DNA “profiles” and “sequences,” may be important to another case currently before the Supreme Court: Maryland v. King.
Read Jake’s analysis here, and stay tuned to our Case Updates page to track new developments on DNA collection by law enforcement.
New Feature: Case Updates
As followers of this blog know, law and the biosciences spans a wide variety of issues, groups, and, of course, cases. The Center is following a number of diverse cases, at various levels in both the federal and state systems, that are currently being litigated. On our main webpage, we’ve now provided a short list of some of those cases, identifying their primary issues, their status, and any relevant opinions. We call it, Case Updates. For those interested in law and the biosciences, we hope it will provide you with brief synopses to some of the more critical issues in the field as they arise. Enjoy!
11/29: Sports, Head Trauma, and Neuroscience
Sports-caused brain damage, both acute and more chronic, has been in the news, with over 2400 former NFL player suing the league for damage they claim it did not prevent. On this Thursday, November 29, the Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences (CLB) and the Stanford Interdisciplinary Group on Neuroscience and Society (SIGNS), with support from the Stanford Institute for Neuroinnovation and Translational Neuroscience (SINTN), will present a dicussion of “Sports, Brain Damage, and Neuroscience” from 5:00 to 6:30 in room 290 at Stanford Law School.
Dr. Gary Steinberg, chair of the Stanford Department of Neurosurgery and former team neurosurgeon to the San Francisco 49ers will be the featured speaker, with additional comments from Dr. Daniel C. Garza, assistant professor in Stanford’s departments of orthopedic surgery and of surgery (emergency medicine) and current medical director for the San Francisco 49ers. Professsor Hank Greely, director of the CLB will moderate (and add a few comments of his own, no doubt). Refreshments will be provided; concussions will not.
This event is free and open to the public. To register, click this link.
A Few Thoughts on Neuroscience and Consciousness in Marginal Cases
Roland Nadler
A couple of items in the news over the past few weeks have left me in a peculiar (maybe uncomfortable, but probably healthy) position: partly agreeing with the view of a philosopher whose general approach I bristle at, and receiving with some skepticism the work of a scientist whose project I think is important and worthy of much respect. Read the rest of this entry »