Moore V. Regents of The University of California - History

History

John Moore first visited UCLA Medical Center on October 5, 1976, after learning he had hairy-cell leukemia. After hospitalizing Moore and taking blood, bone marrow aspirate, and other bodily fluids, David W. Golde confirmed that diagnosis.

On October 8, 1976, Golde recommended that Moore's spleen be removed. Golde informed Moore that he had reason to fear for his life, and that the proposed splenectomy operation was necessary to slow down the progress of his disease. Based upon Golde's representations, Moore signed a written consent form authorizing the splenectomy, which said the hospital could "dispose of any severed tissue or member by cremation". Surgeons at UCLA Medical Center, whom the complainant did not name as defendants, removed Moore's spleen on October 20, 1976. A material fact in the case was that Golde had been aware of the potential for financial benefit deriving from Moore's bodily tissues and fluids at the time of obtaining medical consent and had not disclosed this to Moore.

Moore returned to the UCLA Medical Center several times between November 1976 and September 1983. He did so at Golde's direction and based upon representations that such visits were necessary and required for his health and well-being. On each of these visits Golde withdrew additional samples of blood, blood serum, skin, bone marrow aspirate, and sperm. On each occasion Moore traveled to the UCLA Medical Center from his home in Seattle because he had been told that the procedures were to be performed only there and only under Golde's direction. In 1983, he was given a different consent form that said: "I (do, do not) voluntarily grant to the University of California all rights I, or my heirs, may have in any cell line or any other potential product which might be developed from the blood and/or bone marrow obtained from me", which he refused to sign and eventually turned over to an attorney, who then discovered the patent. Specifically, defendants were conducting research on Moore's cells, and planned to benefit financially by exploiting the cells and their exclusive access to the cells by virtue of Golde's ongoing physician-patient relationship.

Sometime before August 1979, Golde established a cell line from Moore's T-lymphocytes. On January 6, 1983, the Regents applied for a patent on the cell line, listing Golde and Shirley G. Quan as inventors. U.S. Patent 4,438,032 issued on March 20, 1984, naming Golde and Quan as the inventors of the cell line and the Regents as the assignee of the patent. With the Regents' assistance, Golde negotiated agreements for commercial development of the cell line and products to be derived from it. Under an agreement with Genetics Institute, Golde became a paid consultant and acquired the rights to 75,000 shares of common stock. Genetics Institute also agreed to pay Golde and the Regents at least $330,000 over three years, including a pro-rata share of Golde's salary and fringe benefits, in exchange for exclusive access to the materials and research performed on the cell line and products derived from it. On June 4, 1982, Sandoz was added to the agreement, and compensation payable to Golde and the Regents was increased by $110,000.