James Sherley (right) of the Boston Biomedical Research Institute in Watertown, Massachusetts, and Theresa Deisher of AVM Biotechnology in Seattle, Washington, the two plaintiffs behind a recent court injunction that has frozen US government funding for human stem cell research, have filed a memorandum with the court blasting the government’s position and questioning the Justice Department’s interpretation of the injunction.
Meeting a court deadline for response, lawyers for the two plaintiffs last night filed a scathing reply to the Department of Justice’s motion requesting a stay of the stem cell injunction. “Defendants’ claims of irreparable harm absent a stay rest on speculation, misinformation, and hyperbole,” the memorandum says, adding in a footnote, “In addition, the Collins declaration is replete with exaggerations and factual mischaracterizations.”
Interestingly, the memorandum also states that the Department of Justice was incorrect in interpreting the injunction to apply to human embryonic stem cell lines allowed under the Bush administration. Although that policy was overridden by the NIH’s current policy, the plaintiffs say, the injunction “does not address… whether NIH could return to that pre-Guidelines policy pursuant to appropriate procedures and federal law.”
Documents available here:
Memorandum opposing the motion to stay
Alla Katsnelson
Photo Credit: MIT