FDA Shuts Down DIY Sperm Bank!
The NY Daily News - the eyes, the ears, the honest voice of New York! - reports on the Food and Drug Administration's pulling the plug on a one-man sperm-donor operation:
Trent Arsenault, 36, says he donates semen to low-income and same-sex couples who face hurdles acquiring it at licensed sperm banks.
"It is helping people in need," the Fremont, California, resident told CBS San Francisco. "I don't make any money, I don't charge people anything. And it's just helping childless couples have children."
The FDA disagrees. In a Cease Manufacturing letter delivered on Nov. 1 of last year, the FDA classified Arsenault's setup as a "firm" that "recovers and distributes semen and therefore is a manufacturer of human cells, tissues and cellular and tissue-based products."
Arsenault says he's fathered 14 kids and the FDA figgers he passed out 328 samples over the years (I'm hoping whoever did that counting got time and a half).
The agency ordered Arsenault to shut down the renegade semen-distribution operation until he demonstrated compliance. Arsenault, on the other hand, contends that as a sole donor he should not have to comply with laws established for sperm banks that operate as businesses.
The dispute lingered on for over a year before CBS San Francisco broke the story for the national media this week. Arsenault says he continues to donate sperm while he waits for his hearing.
Arsenault maintains a website here, which is chockfull of pictures and information.
Laffs aside, this sort of story is more and more likely as the DIY revolution continues to spread across all sorts of activities. Reason folks tend to dismiss the FDA as a punch of useless bureaucrats (and they often are), but do readers feel comfortable with an unregulated market in this sort of instance?
I do, assuming there's no fraud involved. It's clear that this is a voluntary exchange and one that will be difficult if not impossible to regulate out of existence. I wonder about what sorts of people would go through these channels, but I'm sure the answer to more and better services all around is deregulating restrictions and allowing all sorts of private-sector certification agencies assume the role they do in other commercial areas.
Reason on biotechnology, including the sale of human eggs and more.
Bonus questions: What are the capital requirements for a sperm bank? Can they be overleveraged?
Hat tip: Baylen Linnekin of Keep Food Legal (yes, I know, unfortunate linkage).
