FUNDING SHOULD CONTINUE UNDER APPEL

Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The government should be allowed to continue funding embryonic stem-cell research while it appeals a lower court order banning the programs, the Justice Department said in a court filing.

“Disruption of ongoing research will result in irreparable setbacks and, in many cases, may destroy a project altogether,” the department wrote in a filing today with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington. Arguments are set for Sept. 27.

The appeals court said on Sept. 9 the government can keep funding embryonic stem-cell research at least in the initial stages of its challenge to a judge’s ban on taxpayer support for any activity using cells taken from human embryos. The Justice Department argued that District Judge Royce Lamberth’s order cutting off funding would cause irreversible harm to researchers, taxpayers and scientific progress.

Foes of U.S. funding for embryonic stem-cell research said a ban won’t have any permanent impact on the research and should remain in effect while the federal government appeals. U.S. arguments are “speculation, misinformation, and hyperbole,” the opponents, adult stem-cell researchers competing for funds, said in legal papers filed last week.

The case is Sherley v. Sebelius, 10-5287, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (Washington).