Title: Renewing regulatory practices: the case of stem cells

Authors: Kristian Borch, Jesper Norus

Addresses: Systems Analysis Department, Riso National Laboratory, The Technical University of Denmark, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark. ' Department of Organisation and Industrial Sociology, Copenhagen Business School, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark

Abstract: This paper examines the political decisions made by three countries – Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany – about stem cell research. It recommends directing the regulatory practices away from today|s practice, based on regulation of technological frameworks, and towards a regulatory policy based on technological road-mapping. Regulatory practices would thus be based on the content of the technologies in question, and on the vision they seem to show. Its conclusion suggests a positive side-effect of such a shift in the regulatory paradigm: that technological road-mapping can be used as a communication tool to deal with priorities in the healthcare system when technologies are at an embryonic stage.

Keywords: healthcare technology; healthcare management; technology management; public regulation; technological road-mapping; stem cell technologies; stem cells; Denmark; The Netherlands; Germany; public policy; politics; communication; stem cell research.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2007.014197

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2007 Vol.8 No.6, pp.676 - 691

Published online: 25 Jun 2007 *

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