DOH consultant resigns over govt support of stem cell therapy

Department of Health (DOH) consultant Dr. Tony Leachon MD has resigned his post over the government body's support of the controversial stem cell therapy in the country.

 

The 2010 Ten Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Awardee for medicine told GMA News that his resignation was spurred by Health Secretary Enrique Ona's full-page statement in the August 14, 2013, issue of The Philippine Star, in which the secretary upheld the regulated commercial practice of stem cell therapy.

The statement, entitled "Stem Cell: The Final Word," was a reprint of Ona's keynote message at the mid-year convention of the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine last August 12.

 

In particular, Leachon reacted to Ona's apparent support for the charging of professional fees for stem cell treatments that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In an SMS message, Ona told GMA News that he is "okay" with Leachon's resignation but did not elaborate further.

"(Leachon) is a one-peso volunteer consultant on non-communicable diseases. (His resignation) is okay with the Secretary," read Ona's message.

'Safe and effective'

 

The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) had earlier warned that due to the highly experimental nature of stem cell therapy, its practice should be "confined to clinical studies...that have been screened and approved by a duly constituted technical review board and ethics committee."

 

But in his message, Ona assured that DOH Administrative Order No. 2013-0012 is already in place to "guarantee that human stem cell preparations and cell-based therapies in the Philippines are safe and effective for their intended use" as well as to "ensure a minimum quality of service by hospitals and other health facilities capable of (stem cell therapies)".

Ona also upheld the "limited innovative administration of unproven stem cell therapies... outside a research setting."

 

Citing medical ethics professor Insoon Hyun of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Ona defined stem cell therapy as an "innovative therapy" that could "improve an individual patient's condition."

 

Ona was also supportive of providing these therapies in a controlled but commercial setting:

 

"We cannot completely adopt Western practices of offering these investigational therapies completely free to clinical trial participants. This approach will not only be unaffordable for our institutions but very expensive and will forever relegate us to be a 'marketing testing ground' after others have developed a technique in their country," he said.

 

Leachon told GMA News that it is this statement, among other concerns, which finally prompted his resignation.

 

"With the PCP's and medical societies' position against stem cell therapy proliferating in the country, of which you fully support, I believe I have lost your trust and confidence and I might not be effective serving the DOH and fighting the PCP and medical societies' cause in the service of the Filipino patient," Leachon said in his resignation letter, a copy of which was furnished to GMA News via SMS. — RSJ, GMA News