Written by | Seven Kings
The organs cut off during the operation were secretly made into biological products worth $3 billion by the hospital, so can the patient ask the hospital for compensation?
This seems reasonable to many, but the reality is completely different. In the United States, no matter how much the "meat" that falls off your body is worth, you don't get a dime.
It all starts with a classic case in 1990.
John Moore is a pipeline explorer in Alaska who works 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. When he was about 30 years old, his gums were bleeding, his stomach was bulging, and his whole body was covered with bruises.
John Moore 丨 Image source: see watermark
After going to the hospital for examination, he learned that he had a cancer called hair cell leukemia.
Hairy cell leukemia is a relatively rare malignant leukemia in which many defective white blood cells appear in the patient's body. Under a microscope, these white blood cells look furry like they have grown hair, hence the name.
Mutant white blood cells (purple) in patients with hair cell leukemia 丨 Image source: wikipedia
Normal white blood cells have the ability to fight infection and are a major component of the immune system, but these congenitally deficient white blood cells can destroy the body's immunity because they can proliferate abnormally.
The most damaged organ in Moore's body was his spleen. A major function of the spleen is to store white blood cells. But 20% of the white blood cells in Moore's blood have deformed into a furry appearance. The "mutant" white blood cells occupied his spleen, making his spleen grow from 500 grams to 6 kilograms, a foot that became 10 times larger.
Spleen (right purple) 丨 Image source: wikimedia
Doctors were helpless to deal with his illness. On October 5, 1976, Moore went to UCLA Medical Center for the first time because he heard that there was a well-known leukemia oncologist there, David W. Golde.
David W. Golde 丨Education: the lancet
Golde believes that removing the spleen is the only way to treat Moore. Moore approved of Golde's surgical plan and signed the hospital's preoperative consent form. The regular consent letter reads that the hospital "may dispose of removed tissue or limb by cremation." ”
Moore didn't think much of it and signed it, because he couldn't do the operation without signing the consent form, and the operation went smoothly.
Fortunately, in the days after the operation, Moore's blood indicators began to return to normal, and the symptoms of leukemia disappeared. If things only end here, it will be a harmonious and beautiful ending.
However, in the side plot, Golde did not cremate the patient's spleen, but used it to do various research.
Because Golde found that the white blood cells extracted from Moore's spleen were quite unique, they would mass-produce an anti-cancer drug: granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
Image source: pixnio
This protein can be used to treat cancer patients who have lost their white blood cells due to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and many pharmaceutical companies are interested in it. The active ingredient of Leucomax developed by Novartis at that time was this molecule.
However, at that time, the production capacity of GM-CSF was relatively low, because a large amount of blood was required to make the drug. If Moore's cells could be processed in batches, the cost of the drug would be reduced by more than half.
Even more exciting is the presence of a special virus in Moore's blood: the human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV). HTLV is a human retrovirus, similar to the HIV virus that causes AIDS. But the strange thing about it is that it is different from the retroviruses of all known animals.
HTLV virus (left) and HIV virus (right) 丨 Image source: wikipedia
The HTLV found in Moore is a new subtype of significance, so the researchers named the virus in his body HTLV-II.
In addition, Moore's serum actually contains antibodies to the virus, which means that his serum may be able to treat a T cell malignancy caused by HTLV.
Golde and colleagues published the study in Science in 1982. The study has caused a lot of repercussions, with more than 1480 citations to date.
The discoveries also thrilled Golde. For further research, Golde suggested that Moore come back regularly, and Moore agreed.
Between 1976 and 1983, Moore, who lived 1,500 kilometers away in Seattle, repeatedly shuttled between the two cities. In his opinion, this is a responsible doctor in the follow-up consultation, but Dr. Golde also has his own little nine-nine.
After some time, Moore began to feel a little troublesome. He asks If Golde can be checked in Seattle, where he works, but Golde offers to reimburse him for round-trip airfare and provide him with accommodation in a luxury hotel.
Image source: pxhere
In 1983, the seventh year after the operation, Moore began to feel a little strange. A nurse asked him to sign a consent form. The document said Moore voluntarily ceded his rights in his blood and bone marrow cell lines to the University of California. At first Moore signed it, but later repented.
Back in Seattle, Dr. Golde sent two more emails urging him to sign. Moore felt even more wrong and consulted a lawyer.
The lawyers investigated and learned that in fact, in 1979, Golde successfully created a cell line from Moore cells— homologous cells that could replicate themselves outside the human body. In honor of Moore, the cell line was named Mo. In January 1981, the University of California filed a patent for the Mo Cell Department. In March 1984, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent for the Mo cell line.
Image source: wikimedia
In order to use the patent, pharmaceutical companies have also come to the door. The Genetics Institute gave Golde 75,000 shares (which are now worth $3 million) and paid him at least $330,000 in royalties. Later, another pharmaceutical company, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, also paid $110,000 for the use of the Mo cell line. The two pharmaceutical companies also gave UCLA $3 million in research funding.
Later California Supreme Court materials showed that the Mo cell line was estimated to be worth $3.01 billion in 1990. This figure was a sky-high price in the 90s.
That is, Golde and the University of California make a lot of money from cells taken from Moore, but Moore himself doesn't know it.
This story may feel familiar to many people. The famous HELLA cell line was developed into the world's first immortal cell line without the knowledge of the cell owner, and then used in pharmaceutical research and development around the world, involving countless interests and scientific and technological achievements. However, the owner of hela's cell line, Heliyette Lax herself and her family, were unaware of it and did not benefit from it for a long time.
Hela Cell Line and Heliyetah Lax 丨Author: hms.harvard.edu
Many are indignant about this. However, it should be noted that in the United States, it is not possible to patent natural human tissue. However, human-modified cells and tissues, such as cell lines, can be patented.
Culturing cell lines is not a simple process. Researchers want to find a very small number of cells that can survive in a dish and can also replicate themselves from raw materials, that is, human protocells. This screening duration is usually in years. The development time of the Mo cell line is 3 years.
Arguably, there would be no Mo cell lines without the work of a large number of highly educated biochemical elites, and Moore's spleen doesn't automatically pop up a bunch of cell lines.
On the flip side, without Moore "donating" cells, there would be no Mo cell lines. Greg Simon, president of fasterCures Pharmaceutical Lobby, a U.S. patient advocacy service, noted that Moore's situation is so special that his cells are so valuable that there are only 6-7 examples like his in the entire history of medicine.
Maxima or Bó Lè who is more important, this question is really difficult to answer. But from Moore's point of view, he was deceived. So in 1984, he filed a lawsuit against Golde, UCLA, and related companies.
Moore was the first person in U.S. history to claim ownership of an autologous organization, and the first case in the United States to explore the legality of using human tissue for commercial purposes.
Science commented that this is an unprecedented case. Many researchers and pharmaceutical research institutions worry that if Moore wins the case, he will not have to do research and development in the future, because once there is any result, the owner of the cell will come to find trouble.
Image source: rawpixel
But in 1986, the Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled that Moore did not own his own cell property rights, and the judgment was favorable to the University of California. Moore was not satisfied and appealed to a higher court. In 1988, the California Court of Appeals overturned the previous ruling in favor of Moore.
This time the University of California is not happy. They continued to appeal, pushing the case to the California Supreme Court.
In 1990, the California Supreme Court overturned the California Court of Appeals' ruling, ruling that the Mo cell line was not private property. The wind turned again to the University of California.
The California Supreme Court said Moore's cells fall under the category of organ donations, which are not private property. In the United States, the law allows anyone to own property that someone else has given up, which means it is legal to pick up trash on a first-come, first-served basis.
The California Supreme Court also said that if researchers need donor consent to conduct research, there is no way to talk about medical progress.
It should be noted that the California Supreme Court also ruled that Golde did not obtain informed consent from patients, which means that Golde did deceive Moore.
Image credit: pixabay
Unsatisfied, Moore went on to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which was dismissed. Moore's leukemia returned in 1996 and he died in 2001.
The Moore case has caused a huge response. The U.S. Congress held a hearing on the commercial use of human tissue. In 1995, former President Bill Clinton also consulted advisers on related matters.
The Moore decision became the basis for many subsequent cell line patent cases in the United States. After the Moore case, doctors and researchers can legally take samples from the patient's body for research, without worrying that the patient will come to him later to ask for money. Of course, many hospitals and research institutions have also added corresponding provisions to patient informed consent forms.
Unlike the Moore case, the aura of the Mo cell line gradually dimmed.
Golde said in an interview with The New York Times that after the lawsuit began, researchers across the United States immediately stopped using Mo cell lines, and until 1990, no drug development agency dared to use Mo cell lines to do research, and anti-cancer drug research and development could not be discussed. Later, another drug occupied Leucomax's market share, and the Mo cell line did not become the "cow" of the pharmaceutical factory.
Image source: wikimedia
The Mo cell line is now stored in a liquid nitrogen freezer in Washington, D.C., and the genetic information it contains is included in the CCLE Cancer Cell Line and COSMIC Genetic Resources Database. Researchers can also order a Mo cell line on the website of the American Center for Typical Culture Preservation (ATCC), which costs about $664 (4,220 yuan) per copy.
The unit value of a small group of "human flesh" has exceeded that of the "host", which is quite unreasonable for the donor, but if there is no "magic output" of the researcher, they may only turn into smoke with the "host".
Perverted cells in ordinary people: Oops, it's over.
Metamorphosed cells in the hands of doctors: making pills.
Resources
https://docs.qq.com/doc/DVFNoR1pjTVp1eFBq
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