Valerie McClain’s post below is intriguing because Seattle is the site
of a trial that took place a few years ago.  A male patient’s blood was
tested and a certain component was found

that was then harvested and used on others.  When he sued the Univ and
doc who did this,

the court found he had no right to the process or the profits therefrom,
although it came from his own blood and without him they would have had
nothing.  Though he never gave his permission, he lost all rights to
what was made from his blood.

 

I see the article below as showing nursing moms as Wet Nurses for
industry leading to the same

scenerio.

Judy Ritchie

 

Date:    Mon, 27 Jan 2003 06:17:12 EST

From:    "Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC" <[log in to unmask]>

Subject: Human Milk Banks, patenting

 

 

Currently at the US Patent Office there is an application for a patent
called, "Method of producing nutritional products from human milk tissue
and compostions thereof."  The inventor is Elena Medo and it was filed
in June of 2002.  Elena Medo owns a company called Prolacta Bioscience
that plans to provide a more efficient human milk banking system.  This
is an application for a patent that has not been approved... yet.  There
are statements in this patent that greatly disturb me.  The center of
the invention is to resolve the world-wide shortage of gamma globulin
(besides providing human milk for

premies/infants)  Certainly a beneficial thing, yet the text states the

following:

 

"Manipulation of the levels of immunoglobulins and their subclasses will
result in formulations that are targeted at specific diseases or organ
systems, making it possible to attack disease using nature's
pharmaceutical laboratory, the mammary gland. Furthermore, milk donors
who have weaned their babies or have initiated lactation without
pregnancy could feasibly become human labs, becoming exposed through any
method to mild strains of disease and producing the appropriate antibody
in their milk. Since the breast is reactive to new exposures of
pathogens, an array of new immunities can be produced to combat such
diseases. Whether these types of donors could produce enough milk to
become a primary source remains to be seen, but at least these donors
could provide a human lab for biosynthesizing disease specific
antibodies that could be replicated later using other methods."

 

While I am absolutely supportive of human milk banking, I believe that
the state of patenting human milk components is so unregulated that I am
quite frightened by the implications.  One might assume that rationally,
we will never get to the point of using women as human labs but I am not
sure anymore that there is a level of rationality in regard to
harvesting human tissues for use in the pharmaceutical industry.  Where
are the regulations on such things?  The door seems wide open.  I do not
understand the silence on this issue in the breastfeeding community.
Silence in my book means approval.  If it doesn't mean approval, then
why aren't we speaking out? Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC


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