CEJA members don't believe the barriers to this technology are insurmountable. Still, they conclude that the public health risk is great enough to warrant that unique steps be taken. However, requiring patients to waive their right to withdraw from a clinical trial isn't believed to be enforceable ethically or legally. It's a fundamental right to be able to withdraw from research when you want to. Currently, the thrust of this research is focused on pig organs.
Pigs are physiologically similar to humans and can reproduce rapidly.
There's also less risk of disease transmission and fewer moral concerns than with the organs of more closely related animals such as nonhuman primates. In addition, almost 100 million pigs are slaughtered annually in the United States alone, said Robert P. Lanza, MD, vice president of medical and scientific development at Advanced Cell Technology Inc., a Worcester, Mass. biotechnology company. The AMA has taken the stand that biomedical research using animals is essential to improving the health and well-being of humans. Neal Barnard, MD, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which has taken a stand against xenotransplantation, disagrees that such research can be compatible with the AMA's principle. Raising animals for spare parts is not what anyone would call nice and kind and humane.