POPE

POPE'S LETTER WARNS THAT PHARMACEUTICALS' GREED LEADS TO UNETHICAL MEDICINES
Says large investors putting little into ethical stem cell research because lower profits anticipated

VATICAN, April 11, 2002 (LSN.ca) - In a letter released publicly by the Vatican today, Pope John Paul II warns that by the "pursuit of profit" the pharmaceutical industry has delved into unethical products such as the contraceptive pill, patches, morning after pills and abortion drugs. "The pharmaceutical industry has favoured research which has already placed on the world market products contrary to the moral good, including products which are not respectful of procreation and even suppress human life already conceived," he said.

The March 25 letter was addressed to the Msgr. Jozef Kowalczyk, the Apostolic Nuncio in Poland, as he was participating in the international conference on "Conflict Of Interest And Its Significance In Science And Medicine" held in Warsaw April 5-6.

The pope pointed to heavy investment in unethical embryonic research and yet relatively little investment into their ethical counterpart, adult stem cell research. "The recent decision in some countries to use human embryos or even to produce or clone them in order to harvest stem-cells for therapeutic purposes has the backing of large investors. Yet ethically acceptable and scientifically valid programmes using adult cells for the same therapies, with no less success, draws little support because lower profits are anticipated," he wrote.

The pope also took the media to task over its promotion of unethical medical products while refusing to promote health-promoting lifestyles such as abstinence till marriage. "The media, often financed by the same business interests, provoke exaggerated expectations and spawn a kind of pharmacological consumerism. At the same time they tend to pass over in silence those means of protecting health which require people to act responsibly and with self-discipline."

"Public authorities," he wrote, "should be prepared to prevent research which harms human life and dignity or which ignores the needs of the world's poorest peoples, who are generally less well equipped for scientific research."

See the Pope's full letter at:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-
ii_let_20020411_conference-poland_en.html
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/apr/020411.html#2

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