Stem-cell option eyed by councilor
As the debate continues on Beacon Hill over stem-cell research, a Boston city councilor is considering a measure to promote the controversial practice of storing the blood from umbilical cords as a source of stem cells for future medical treatments for the child, parent, or sibling.
Councilor John Tobin said he wants the city to require all Boston hospitals to tell mothers-to-be about options to store or donate umbilical cord blood, rather than discard it. Tobin pointed to the potential that cord blood holds to treat some cancers and genetic diseases, and he wants more families to know the option exists.
''If something happens to your child medically, God forbid, these are stem cells that could potentially help your child later on in life," Tobin said. ''These are stem cells that come from . . . umbilical cords, but they usually get discarded. All we are asking for is that the information gets to the mother-to-be, letting her know she has options."
Medical specialists cautioned yesterday that the increasingly popular practice is still being tested, and the medical community continues to debate the value of saving cord blood.
The umbilical cord and its blood is painlessly removed during childbirth. It can be frozen for storage and, under certain conditions, used years later to help treat some diseases. Many hospitals inform mothers that they can store the cord, and some states, such as New York and Maryland, have public facilities where cord blood is stored.
Massachusetts does not have such a facility. Here, women can store their blood at a for-profit facility, and the cost can range from $1,200 to $2,000, plus annual storage fees.
Tobin said he learned of the practice through a constituent who works for New England Cord Blood Bank, a for-profit storage facility in Newton. The city councilor toured the facility yesterday.
''Cord blood is a rich resource of stem cells, but roughly 98 percent of women throw their cord blood away," said Dawn Sweetser, the Newton cord bank's director of sales and marketing.
The New England Cord Blood Bank stores roughly 20,000 specimens, and about 400 to 500 cords are used each year, Sweetser said. The initial cost is $1,124, plus annual fees of about $124.
Many researchers remain skeptical about the importance of women saving their cord blood, saying the chance of a child needing stem cells from their own umbilical cord is low. Among them are officials from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Darshak Sanghavi a clinical fellow at Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said it is highly unlikely that a family will need to use privately stored cord blood and that families should be more wary of for-profit businesses offering to store cord blood.
''I think it's a way of preying on prenatal fears," Sanghavi said. ''In general, private banking of cord blood costs a lot of money and probably will not do much good for you or your family. It's not necessarily supported by the medical community."
Sanghavi is also concerned about Tobin's push to require physicians to tell mothers about the options, saying that some people will mistake the mandate for a doctor's approval of the practice. In addition, Sanghavi worries that women and their doctors might rely too heavily on material from for-profit agencies, rather than medical expertise.
Tobin said he will hold a City Council hearing in the coming weeks to weigh both sides of the issue.
He added that other states, including Maryland and Oklahoma, have adopted requirements about informing mothers. However, those states have public banks where storing cord blood is free of charge.
Tobin also says he wants to investigate why Massachusetts does not have a public bank and to find ways to make it possible for all residents, regardless of income, to store cord blood if they wish.
