The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter 

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

BEFORE the Longevity and Regenerative Therapies Bill 2024 passed the House of Assembly, opposition members said there was no framework to ensure vulnerable patients are not taken advantage of.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said the bill, which will repeal and replace the Stem Cell Research and Therapy Act passed under the Christie administration, will assist in accessing treatments to improve the lives of people suffering from chronic debilitating diseases.

St Anne’s MP Adrian White questioned whether the minister of health properly consulted people on the bill, warning that the “experimental” treatments could do more harm than good. 

When Mr White asked Dr Darville to stand if he consulted a medical association or the Bahamas Christian Council on the bill, Dr Darville did not stand.

Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard pressed Dr Darville on why several groups were not consulted, including the people who participated in the drafting of the current law.

Dr Darville said when the bill was laid in the House of Assembly, some people responded and the administration addressed their concerns.

“Not every bill you have to physically go to everyone and consult like how we did with the Cannabis bill,” he said, adding he is satisfied with the consultation done.

According to the bill, an ethics committee of seven people will be responsible for approving applications for research and administration of therapies in the field. The ethics committee would also ensure that research and administration of therapies are safely, ethically, and scientifically implemented.

Mr White, however, expressed concern that the committee will not be made up of all Bahamians. 

“You can have as many international experts as you want to consult under this bill if, God forbid, it comes through, but you need to make the ethics committee entirely Bahamian because you will actually have Bahamians looking out for the best interest of The Bahamas and not foreign experts that are looking out for that economic benefit,” Mr White said. 

Former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis supported the bill, but said regulatory oversight is vital to prevent malpractice.

He described how one of his colleagues developed AIDS when research and treatment were minimal. He said he was so desperate to find a cure that he called bush medicine specialists to see if they were aware of the disease.

“You can imagine if me as a doctor seeing a colleague, a friend, going through that, and I became so desperate in trying to help that anything I would have done in terms of research on medicine,” he said. “Individuals who are ill will seek medical care, and they will do anything and spend their entire life savings to get well because we all want to live.”

Dr Minnis said the US Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly issued warnings about bogus and expensive stem cell therapies and urged regulators to have a “watchful eye” for these.

Meanwhile, Long Island MP Adrian Gibson said some would call the bill the “Peter Nygard” bill part two. When the last Christie administration passed the stem cell law in 2013, controversy erupted because the disgraced fashion mogul claimed he initiated and helped write the legislation.

Mr Gibson also questioned the transparency of stem cell research. He asked how Princess Margaret Hospital handles the placenta and umbilical cords of newborn babies and questioned whether they are being used for stem cell research without permission from parents. The human placenta and cord blood are rich in hematopoietic progenitor and hematopoietic stem cells.

Dr Darville said remains are not collected for research at the country’s tertiary healthcare facilities.

“If it’s being done it is being done illegally,” he said. “If anyone is found in possession or in the attempt to do it they will be prosecuted by the fullest extent of the law.”