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Nov 29 2008

Sick Babies Denied Treament Because Company Holds Patent on DNA

Posted by Chris Williamson in Genetics, Social Commentary

Julie Robotham Medical Editor
November 29, 2008

BABIES with a severe form of epilepsy risk having their diagnosis delayed and their treatment compromised because of a company’s patent on a key gene.

It is the first evidence that private intellectual property rights over human DNA are adversely affecting medical care.

Deepak Gill, head of neurology at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, said he would test at least 50 per cent more infants for the SCN1A gene – which would diagnose the disabling Dravet syndrome – if the hospital could conduct the test in-house. more>>>

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