State looks ahead with bioethics panel
There is often a flip side to the benefits of new technologies; advances, particularly in biomedical research, can raise difficult questions, such as those surrounding the implementation of stem cell research. Assembly Member Lori Saldaņa, chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Bioethics, Medicine, and Technology, is trying to help the state proactively address questions like this with a proposed bioethics advisory panel.
"This is new territory for the Legislature," said Saldaņa. "We have a federal level advisory panel on bioethics, but I haven't seen a state-level version. It's time to bridge that gap."
Bioethics concerns the ethical questions that arise in the relationships between biology, medicine, cybernetics, politics, law, philosophy, and theology. These questions impact virtually every policy that affects the well being of life and the environment, although it is generally discussed in the context of the administration of science and technology related policies.
"Many of the immediate questions to discuss involve treatment of existing diseases," said Saldaņa. "There's a strong motivation to research cures for diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other diseases. But then what happens if this research has the potential to enhance people's quality of life even further? Who would benefit?"
Saldaņa has proposed Assembly Bill 1273 that would establish an advisory panel to explore how the state should address questions like these. The idea is to establish a framework that will be useful to California after the select committee expires.
"With term limits, long-term thinking is hard," said Saldaņa. "We need to put into place structures that will survive our tenure in the Legislature; we need to look at the existing framework and enhance it so it can readily encompass new technologies as they arise, rather than create a whole new framework for each one."
Saldaņa has asked CCST to help bring together bioethics experts to provide background research for the select committee in order to facilitate development of AB 1273. On December 2, CCST brought together experts to meet with the Assembly Member.
Experts included:
- Mildred Cho, associate director of the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics;
- Lawrence Hinman, director of The Values Institute, University of San Diego;
- Michael Kalichman, director of the Research Ethics Program, University of California San Diego; and
- Jennifer Lahl, national director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture.
The results of the meeting will be presented to the select committee early next year. "We're at a very important point," said Saldaņa.
"Uncertainty in California about bioethical issues is contributing to a 'brain drain' of our biomedical research community. There's a robust discussion in California about these issues, but we need to channel it. If we don't come up with consistent bioethics guidelines, it could hinder the environment for science and technology innovation in our state, and hence our competitiveness."
