FDA Requires More Tissue Banks To Register With Agency
The FDA on Wednesday announced that fertility clinics, sperm banks and other tissue banks, including those that handle stem cells, will be required to register with the agency within 60 days to comply with the long-delayed implementation of tissue safety regulations proposed in 1997, the AP/Dallas Morning News reports. Although donated blood and organs have been "strictly regulated," tissues such as skin for burn victims and ligaments for knee surgery have been subject to less oversight, the AP/Morning News reports. The tissues can carry diseases and, if improperly handled, can cause treatments to fail. Registration of the tissue banks will allow the federal government to track what products are being sold. FDA officials did not indicate when it would finalize the rest of the proposed tissue safety regulations (AP/Dallas Morning News, 1/21).
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