NZ experiments on aborted US babies

Researchers at Auckland University are conducting eye experiments on aborted human fetuses imported from the United States.

The university confirmed this yesterday after it was revealed by journalist Ian Wishart in the magazine Investigate.

The research has been denounced by an anti-abortion group, which has likened it to the medical experiments conducted under Germany's Nazi regime. But the university rejects the comparison and has defended the research, led by Dr Keely Bumsted O'Brien.

The study using fetal tissue aims to improve understanding of vision loss by examining the macula, the central part of the retina. Macular degeneration is common in the elderly.

In 2003, Dr Bumsted O'Brien published a study based on experiments using "snap frozen intact human fetal eyes ranging from fetal week nine ... to 18".

She did not return the Herald's calls. Nor did the university's deputy vice-chancellor (research), Professor Tom Barnes, who was in a university council meeting, but he issued a statement which said the latest study used donated human fetal tissue segments, including the macula, which were preserved in the US and imported to New Zealand.

Professor Barnes said strict protocols and a rigorous approval process governed the research. "Our information shows that approval processes for provision of the tissue by donor families have been followed correctly," he said.

Herald inquiries suggest it is unlikely that any fetuses aborted at New Zealand clinics or hospitals are being used in research. The Health Ministry's national database of its ethics committees dating from 1988 contains no record of applications for any such research.

The Canterbury District Health Board's clinical director of gynaecology and oncology, Dr Michael Laney, said no fetal tissue from the board's hospital was being used for research.

"We made a pact years ago that we were determined not to be seen to be making money out of these women."

The Capital and Coast board's head of obstetrics and gynaecology, Dr John Tait, said no New Zealand fetal tissue was used for research - that he knew of - as it would be so controversial.

The Voice for Life Auckland branch president, Bernard Moran, described the latest Auckland University experiments as a shocking watershed.

"We regard it as Auschwitz," he said.

"We knew it was happening in the States and Russia. We certainly didn't think it would happen here."

Fetal law

* Experiments using tissue from aborted fetuses are legal, but they are rare in New Zealand.

* Fetal tissue is excluded from the Human Tissue Act.

* It is expected to be covered in new legislation next year.

* It is proposed that the new law will make it clear that consent will be needed to use tissue from aborted fetuses and stillborn babies.

* The National Ethics Advisory Committee is writing guidelines on research using such tissue.


Clarification:  An earlier version of this story included a reference to an $827,930, three-year grant Dr Keely Bumsted O'Brien recovered from the state-funded Health Research Council. This was for animal research. The council did not fund the fetal research.