Hwang case: egg donors sue researchers and government
By Asia News,
AsiaNews.it
| 04. 25. 2006
Seoul (AsiaNews/CI) _ Two women who donated eggs for embryonic stem cell research by the disgraced cloning scientist, Hwang Woo-suk, are demanding 32 million won (US,000) in damages.
The lawsuit was filed last week with the Seoul District Court: those being sued are MizMedi Hospital, the place where the eggs were taken, Hanyang University Medical Centre and the government.
According to the charge, the medical team led by Hwang _failed to provide sufficient, accurate information on the usage of their eggs and side effects from the extraction processes_. The health structures are being sued for _physical and psychological damage_, while the government has been held responsible _in its capacity as one of the most ardent supporters of Hwang's research and thus his accomplice_.
The donors, supported in their legal battle by 35 women's rights groups, said the compensation requested is _symbolic, but it serves to expose problems linked to this research and to send a warning to society about disregard for bioethics_. They added: _We also believe our case will help to prevent the recurrence of similar cases._
Related Articles
By Grace Won, KQED [with CGS' Katie Hasson] | 12.02.2025
In the U.S., it’s illegal to edit genes in human embryos with the intention of creating a genetically engineered baby. But according to the Wall Street Journal, Bay Area startups are focused on just that. It wouldn’t be the first...
Several recent Biopolitical Times posts (1, 2, 3, 4) have called attention to the alarmingly rapid commercialization of “designer baby” technologies: polygenic embryo screening (especially its use to purportedly screen for traits like intelligence), in vitro gametogenesis (lab-made eggs and sperm), and heritable genome editing (also termed embryo editing or reproductive gene editing). Those three, together with artificial wombs, have been dubbed the “Gattaca stack” by Brian Armstrong, CEO of the cryptocurrency company...
Alice Wong, founder of the Disability Visibility Project, MacArthur Genius, liberationist, storyteller, writer, and friend of CGS, died on November 14. Alice shone a bright light on pervasive ableism in our society. She articulated how people with disabilities are limited not by an inability to do things but by systemic segregation and discrimination, the de-prioritization of accessibility, and the devaluation of their lives.
We at CGS learned so much from Alice about disability justice, which goes beyond rights...
By Lucy Tu, The Guardian | 11.05.2025
Beth Schafer lay in a hospital bed, bracing for the birth of her son. The first contractions rippled through her body before she felt remotely ready. She knew, with a mother’s pit-of-the-stomach intuition, that her baby was not ready either...
