Federal judge upholds Obama rule on stem cell research

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth rules that NIH guidelines do not violate federal law.

Reuters/The Washington Post: Judge Upholds Embryonic Stem Cell Research Funds
A U.S. judge Wednesday upheld the government rules that allow federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research that might lead to cures for deadly diseases affecting millions of Americans. In a victory for the Obama administration, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that the National Institutes of Health guidelines on such research do not violate a 1996 federal law, and he dismissed a legal challenge to the funding (Vicini, 7/28).

Los Angeles Times: Government Funding Reaffirmed For Stem Cell Research
The federal government can continue to fund embryonic stem cell research, a U.S. district judge ruled Wednesday (Brown, 7/28).

The Wall Street Journal: Judge Backs Obama Order On Stem Cells
The plaintiffs, scientists James Sherley and Theresa Deisher, contended that Mr. Obama's loosening of embryonic stem-cell funding rules had unfairly diverted money away from adult stem-cell research, their specialty. They also argued the NIH was increasing demand for newly derived embryonic cells and the destruction of embryos. Judge Lamberth said the NIH reasonably concluded that the law didn't prohibit research projects, such as embryonic stem-cell research, that don't directly involve embryos (Randall and Anderson, 7/28).

Politico: Obama Wins Stem Cell Lawsuit
A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's funding of stem cell research. The lawsuit, filed by Boston biological engineer James L. Shirley, asserted that the funding violated a 1996 law prohibiting federal taxpayer money from supporting work that harms an embryo. The Obama administration policy allows research on embryos that were harvested long ago through private funding (Epstein, 7/27). 

NPR: Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Stem-Cell Research Funding
It wasn't exactly that Lamberth changed his mind on the subject from last year, when he opined that the plaintiffs in the case — the two adult stem-cell scientists — were likely to prevail. Rather, the judge wrote in a 38-page decision, he was bound by the reasoning of the U.S. Court of Appeals, which, in overturning his injunction in April, made him "a grudging partner in a bout of 'linguistic jujitsu.' Such is life for an antepenultimate court" (Rovner, 7/27).