The Current Status of Stem Cell Research in the Context of Public Health Policy

Miranda Lee

Date of Award

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Lewis, Eugene

Keywords

Stem Cell Research, Public Health Policy

Area of Concentration

Social Sciences

Abstract

The federal government funds the majority of the biomedical research that is conducted in America. Interest groups and the perceived desires of the constituent base influence the funding decisions of politicians. The positions of the interest groups are often based on a misunderstanding of the scientific facts. A comparative study of the Cancer Act of 1971, the Swine Flu vaccination program, the start of the AIDS epidemic, and the controversy surrounding stem cell research illustrates how the complex interplay of these factors influences policy decisions on matters of public health and medical research. Cancer, swine flu, and AIDS were major public health events in terms of both the impact on the population and the gravity of the policy choices involved. Embryonic stem cell research is expected to lead to great advances in the field of medicine, so policy decisions affecting such research are very important. Incomplete or incorrect information about the research has conflated the abortion debate and the reproductive cloning debate with the stem cell research debate in public discourse, which has affected the positions of influential interest groups. This thesis proposes that the method by which funding for research and public health initiatives are apportioned ought to be renovated. A new department of the government is necessary to ensure that funding priorities are rationally arranged. A primary responsibility of this department should be to disseminate factual information about diseases and biomedical research. This would provide a widely accessible background of information on which to base a meaningful public discourse.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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