Profession
FDA closes N.C. tissue bank
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Sept. 25, 2006
The Food and Drug Administration is urging doctors to offer patients testing for HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses and syphilis if they received transplanted tissue from Donor Referral Services, a Raleigh, N.C., tissue bank. The FDA closed the firm Aug. 18, citing owner Philip Guyett with several violations, including misstating cause of death and disease risk of at least five donors. Guyett denies any wrongdoing.
The FDA announced plans to form a task force on human cell and tissue safety to strengthen its system for regulating the industry. This is the second incident the FDA has investigated this year involving firms handling body parts for medical use.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/09/25/prbf0925.htm.