|
The head of a fertility clinic being investigated for involvement in
the trade in human egg cells on Tuesday denied supplying illegally
harvested ova to stem cell pioneer Prof. Hwang Woo-suk. Roh Sung-il,
the head of the clinic at Mizmedi Women��s Hospital in Seoul, said the
eggs were acquired legally and with the donors�� consent but would not
say how many ova he provided to Hwang. Roh said police had taken all relevant documents and he was sure
there would be no further problems. The doctor has been involved in
stem cell research with Hwang since 1995 and received a medal from the
government for his contribution to the field in 2004. Asked about charges that the clinic conducted in-vitro
fertilization on patients who it knew had obtained the eggs illegally,
Roh said he did not know whether patients bought ova outside the
hospital. ��A doctor is not an investigator,�� he said. He denied
violating the Medical Service Act or the Bioethics Law in the process
of conducting operations. However, he said he was in principle aware
that it is possible to obtain egg cells illegally. Police say the investigation is limited to whether Roh was
involved in the illegal trade of ova and has no bearing on the
high-profile stem cell research project. Officers said they found no
additional suspicions in the four hospitals they investigated. The Democratic Labor Party in a statement on Tuesday said Roh
was involved in Hwang��s efforts to clone human embryos, which required
a massive number of human eggs, and demanded a clear explanation. The
DLP also called on Roh to resign from a committee on the advanced
medical industry under the direct control of President Roh Moo-hyun. ([email protected] )
|
