Arlington, VA – A D.C. startup company and a Virginia law firm are hoping some Hollywood storytelling will help them win a yearslong legal battle over whether bone-marrow donors can be paid.
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The company, Hemeos, recruits potential donors. Under its business model, the donors would be paid and the company would make money by linking donors up with hospitals.
Paying bone-marrow donors was once illegal, but federal courts ruled that compensation could be permitted in most cases. Now, though, the federal government is considering a regulatory change that would again criminalize payments.
The Arlington-based Institute for Justice is a libertarian-leaning public-interest law firm. Institute attorneys say they’ll sue if the rule change goes through. In the meantime, they’ve produced a short movie featuring Hollywood actors, “Everything,” to try to win the public-opinion battle.