Institute for Justice Coalition - 3/23/10
ASHI is now a member of the Institute for Justice Coalition. We have received requests from members of the Histocompatibility community, as well as from professional organizations associated with transplantation, to see if ASHI could play a role in the issues of the Coalition. The ASHI Board of Directors felt that their goals are reasonable and would like to support their endeavors.
The coalition was formed to provide information and a public voice in opposition to the notion that marrow and peripheral blood stem cells donors should receive compensation as a result of their donation. The idea of compensation is raised in a lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice against the United States Attorney General in October 2009, which seeks to overturn a section of the National Organ Transplant Act that forbids compensation to marrow donors.
Our opposition is based on safety, ethical, and practical concerns regarding compensation. These concerns include the possibility that a donor would fail to disclose important personal health or history information that may affect the safety of either the donor or patient. In addition, ethical concerns such as fairness and concern with the potential for extortion are raised. There are 8 million potential donors on the US registry today. These donors joined for altruistic reasons and may feel that if others are willing to donate for compensation, their own selfless act is no longer needed or appreciated. Finally, the compensation of donors in the US may limit the US national registry from participating in the world-wide search for the best donor.
The following organizations have joined this coalition.
American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) - Contact: Karen Shoos-Lipton
8101 Glenbrook Road
Bethesda, MD 20814-2749
Ph: (301) 907-6977
Fax: (301) 907-6895
Established in 1947, AABB is an international, not-for-profit association dedicated to the advancement of science and the practice of transfusion medicine and related biological therapies. The association is committed to improving health by developing and delivering standards, accreditation and educational programs and services to optimize patient and donor care and safety. AABB membership consists of approximately 1,800 institutions and 8,000 individuals, including physicians, scientists, administrators, medical technologists, nurses, researchers, blood donor recruiters and public relations personnel. Members are located in all 50 states and 80 countries. For more information, please visit www.aabb.org.
America’s Blood Centers - Contact: Jim McPherson
725 15th Street NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005
Ph: (202) 393-5725
Fax:(202) 393-1282
Founded in 1962, America’s Blood Centers is North America’s largest network of community-based, independent blood programs. Recognized by the U.S. Congress for its critical work in patient care and disaster preparedness and response, the federation operates more than 600 blood donor centers providing nearly half of the U.S., and a quarter of the Canadian blood supply. These blood centers serve more than 180 million people and provide blood products and services to more than 3,500 hospitals and healthcare facilities across North America. America’s Blood Centers’ U.S. members are licensed and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Canadian members are regulated by Health Canada.
American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT) - Contact: Thomas Joseph
85 W. Algonquin Road, Suite 550
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
Ph: (847) 427-0224
Fax: (847) 427-9656
The American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation is a national professional association that promotes advancement of the field of blood and marrow transplantation. ASBMT members are both in clinical practice and in research. Only recently have health professionals in the BMT field had an organization that focuses exclusively on their clinical and research interests. Previously they have had to rely on more general medical and scientific organizations. From its beginning, ASBMT activities have been in eight broad areas, representing the interests of transplant clinicians and investigators and the patients they serve: research, representation, clinical standards, regulation, communications, accreditation, reimbursement, and recruitment and training.
American Society of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI) - Contact: Kathy Miranda
ASHI Executive Office
15000 Commerce Parkway, Suite C
Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054
Ph: (856) 793-0907 Fax:(856) 439-0525
Marcelo Fernandez-Vina (2009-2010 President)
MD Anderson
1515 Holcombe Blvd.
Houston, TX 77030
Ph: (713) 792-2121
The American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI) is a not-for-profit association of clinical and research professionals including immunologists, geneticists, molecular biologists, transplant physicians and surgeons, pathologists and technologists. As a professional society involved in histocompatibility, immunogenetics and transplantation, ASHI is dedicated to advancing the science and application of histocompatibility and immunogenetics, providing a forum for the exchange of information, and advocating the highest standards of laboratory testing in the interest of optimal patient care. For more information about ASHI, visit www.ashi-hla.org.
American Society of Transplantation (AST) - Contact: Jeremy Chapman, M.D. (Chairman)
153 Clarence Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
Australia
Ph: 61 2 9845 6349
Fax: 61 2 9633 8300
The American Society of Transplantation is an international organization of transplant professionals dedicated to advancing the field of transplantation through the promotion of research, education, advocacy, and organ donation to improve patient care. The Society comprises more than 3,100 transplant physicians, surgeons and allied health professionals. For more information about AST, please visit www.a-s-t.org.
International Society of Cellular Therapy (ISCT) - Contact: Jane Arthurs
Malachite Management Inc.
375 West 5th Avenue, Suite #201
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada, V5Y 1J6
Ph: (604) 874-4004
Fax: (604) 874-4378
Since 1992, ISCT has been the leading global forum for developing and supporting innovative cellular therapies through communication, education and training. ISCT is a global forum of leading cell therapy experts from 40 countries who drive educational and regulatory activities across all continents. ISCT's Executive Committee and Advisory Board is comprised of world-class scientists, clinicians, technologists, industry and regulatory professionals from across the globe. ISCT is the principal cell therapy society and the only group focused on pre-clinical and translational aspects of developing cell therapy products. As such, ISCT helps the academic, government and biotech/pharma sectors transform research into practice and product. For more information about ISCT, visit http://www.celltherapysociety.org.
World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) - Contact: Lydia Foeken
WMDA Office
Plesmanlaan 1b, 6th floor
2333 BZ Leiden
The Netherlands
Ph: 31 71 568 5366 (Mon, Tues, Thurs)
Fax: 31 71 521 0457
The World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) was established in 1989 as a voluntary international network of donor registries and cord blood banks to provide standards and guidelines for donor recruitment, testing, collection, storage, matching and transport of hematopoietic stem cells. WMDA fosters international collaboration to facilitate the exchange of high quality hematopoietic stem cells for clinical transplantation worldwide and to promote the interests of donors. For more information, visit www.worldmarrow.org.
If you have newsworthy information to add to the ASHI Web site, please contact kmiranda@ahint.com for consideration.