Xenotransplantation
There is still time to send your e-mails, postcards and faxes to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to demand a ban on animal-to-human organ transplants. Please help! The deadline is July 6, 1999. Thank you!
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URGENT ACTION ALERT Urgent Action Needed to Stop Animal Organ, Cell, and Tissue Transplants. Deadline July 6, 1999. Please E-mail, Fax, or Write the FDA. See Sample letter below. The FDA must be flooded with your e-mails, postcards (available from CRT), letters, and faxes now. Below is a short sample letter you can send via e-mail, snail mail or fax. (You must include the Docket number.) Date Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305) Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061 Rockville, MD 20852 Via Fax (301) 827-6870 Via E-mail: FDADockets@oc.fda.gov Re: Docket No. 99D-0557 To whom it may concern: Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines issued April 6, 1999 instituted a de facto ban on nonhuman primate xenografts because they would expose patients and the public to "significant infectious disease risk" (Docket No. 99D-0557). But the guidelines failed to address dangers with other species. Transgenic pigs are considered the source animals of choice for xenotransplants despite the existence of over 25 diseases in pigs that can infect humans. Pigs are not safer than nonhuman primates: witness swine influenza, the Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses, paramyxovirus, and the new "Nipah" virus in Malaysia that infected over 250 humans, killed 103, and led to the slaughter of some 1 million pigs. There are safer, more cost-effective, and humane alternatives to xenotransplantation that are not being explored by regulatory authorities. These include investing heavily in preventive medicine programs to reduce the need for transplants of all kinds, and increasing the pool of human organs as many European countries have done through legislative schemes. I respectfully demand that the Department of Health and Human Services ban xenotransplantation, from all nonhuman species immediately. Sincerely,
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Pre-printed postcards with this text are available in bulk from: Campaign for Responsible Transplantation PO Box 2751 New York, NY 10163-2751 Tel/Fax (212) 579-3477 Below are some key points to make in your own letter: Xenotransplantation should be banned regardless of th species of animal being considered. Pigs are not any safer than nonhuman primates: witness swine influenza, the Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses (PERVs), the Australian paramyxovirus; a novel strain of Hepatitis E, found in US pig herds, and the new Malaysian "Nipah" virus that has devastated humans and pigs alike. (The influenza virus of 1918, which resembled a common swine flu, killed more people in modern history than any other epidemic including AIDS and the Black Plague; and PERVs, present throughout the pig genome, have infected human cells in vitro). The FDA violated the national Environmental Policy Act by failing to perform an environmental impact statement before allowing clinical xenotransplantation experiments. Xenotransplantation is receiving substantial public (and private) financing, without adequate public debate. The FDA should not use taxpayer dollars to develop xenotransplantation without the public's consent. There are safer, more cost-effective, and humane alternatives to xenotransplantation that are not being explored by regulatory authorities. These include investing heavily in preventive medicine programs to reduce the need for transplants of all kinds, and increasing the pool of human organs as many European countries have successfully done through legislative schemes The Department of Health and Human Services should ban xenotransplantation, from all nonhuman species immediately.
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Ways to participate in this Urgent Action Alert: Order quantities of a pre-printed postcard from CRT to distribute to your friends, relatives, members of your church or organization, employees of your business Write your own letter to the FDA Send out a special Urgent Action Alert in your organization’s newsletter or magazine, on a website, and/or on a Hotline, with a reminder about the July 6th deadline Please act now. There is no time to lose!! Thank you for your support and participation. Sincerely, Alix Fano Campaign for Responsible Transplantation PO Box 2751 New York, NY 10163-2751 Tel/Fax (212) 579-3477 E-mail: alixfano@mindspring.com URL: www.crt-online.org Link: http://www.crt-online.org |
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