Ann you wrote,

How does a drug company obtain blood to analyze and do they ever use the
knowledge from components of human blood to genetically make a patent?

I can make some assumptions but I don't "know" how a drug company obtains
blood.  I would assume that they have doctors that work for them doing research
and those docs would have access to blood.  The Human Genome Diversity Project
collects cells and cell lines from indigenous peoples around the world.  I
assume that it would be easy to collect blood (particularly if you wear a white
coat) and patent some component if you believed it to be of use in a drug. Of
interest may be the following story:

http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/genetix.htm

"In 1976, a leukaemia patient John Moore had surgery at the University of
California to remove a cancerous spleen. The University was later granted a
patent for a cell line called Mo, removed from the spleen, which could be used for
producing valuable proteins. The long term commercial value of the cell line
has been estimated at over $1 billion. Permission had not been sought of John
Moore for the use of his body parts. Moore demanded the return of the cells and
control over his body parts, but the California Supreme Court ruled that he
had no entitlement to any rights to his own cells after they had been removed
from his body."

You asked, "Does the public know if they do this and if they do could these
same rules apply to human milk?"

My perception is that most of the public does not know or understand this
kind of patenting.  Hm...what rules??

Someone wrote me that they donated their milk and they were given a detailed
consent form and were specifically able to withhold consent for any patenting
or commercial use of anything pertaining to their milk.  This was not in the
USA.
I would be happy to hear from anyone who donated milk and what kinds of
consent forms they are filling out (in the past and present).  It is something I
have not looked at closely but am now very curious about.

You ask what is the next step?
Truthfully, I don't really know.  I have spent enormous amount of energy just
trying to be believed in regard to the patenting of human milk components.
Now suddenly people are saying they believe what I am saying.  It's kinda like
running on a beach and suddenly ya hit the soft sand.  Ya now have to run a
little differently to get through it. These patents create serious questions
about health care polices and ethics. Breastfeeding advocacy has always been an
up-hill battle.  For example, many of us are still just trying to educate HCP
(health care professionals) in regard to jaundice and breastfeeding.  After
working in my community for 15 years, I am still hearing about full-term, healthy
infants being taken off the breast for normal jaundice. I was told (just
yesterday in fact) by a pediatrician that that is no problem because we have
breastpumps.  So heck I am still fighting the same fire I fought 15 years ago.
Except that now instead of blaming the doc for taking the baby off the breast we
can blame the mother for not maintaining a milk supply.  How do we add another
advocacy issue to our plates and stay sane?  Don't know.......except that
maybe just maybe if we quote from the patents by the infant formula industry on
the marvelous abilities of human milk, we might convince some mothers that the
"battle" to breastfeed is worth all our efforts. [It shouldn't be a battle but
that is what it seems like...]
Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC




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