Doctors are hopeful the Ministry of Health's new guidelines on stem cells will bring the row over former Premier Ewart Brown's Winterhaven project to an end.But as Government maintains its silence on the issue, Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson and Bermuda Democratic Alliance deputy leader Kathy Michelmore called for assurance practice in Bermuda will fall into line with international standards.The Brown-Darrell Clinic in Smith's was at the centre of a storm of controversy in 2007 after Dr Brown announced he and wife Wanda had teamed up with California-based Stemedica to create a stem cell facility.Stemedica officials said they would use the clinic to treat patients with conditions such as stroke, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, brain traumas and spinal cord injuries.However, on hearing of the proposal, International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) president George Daley announced he was very sceptical of anyone running experimental treatment in jurisdictions such as Bermuda, where there is no regulatory oversight.Thirty Bermuda-based physicians later signed a letter to the late Health Minister Nelson Bascome opposing the plan.Now, with the stem cell project still seemingly certain to go ahead, doctors say they are optimistic suitable guidelines will be in place by the time it opens.One previously critical doctor told The Royal Gazette in an e-mail: “I know that MOH is working on some guidelines, and I think you will be impressed. I think it will end the discussion.”Mrs Jackson said in a statement: “As in other developed countries, we need to ensure that Bermuda has clear, written guidelines and a fully independent research ethics committee which reviews any proposal to treat human patients with experimental (ie unproven and unapproved) treatments, such as stem cells.“In the US and the UK, research ethics committees are staffed with independent practitioners who have expertise in the area and are there to ensure not only the rights, safety and dignity of the patient, but also the legality, integrity and medical value of the research.”Dr Michelmore said in a statement: “The BDA would strongly recommend that the Ministry of Health introduce guidelines and regulations regarding stem cell research and therapeutic intervention which follow the recommendations of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.“It is important that the public understand that while stem cell research is an exciting and rapidly developing field of medicine, that the number of proven treatments is limited mainly to treatment for leukaemia and burns.“While there is great hope for the potential of stem cells in treating a host of other diseases, these are still experimental procedures and are very much in the research and development phases.“The International Society for Stem Cell Research has highlighted as a concern that there are ‘numerous clinics around the world exploiting patients' hopes by purporting to offer new and effective stem cell therapies for seriously ill patients, typically for large sums of money and without credible scientific rationale, transparency, oversight, or patient protections'.“The BDA would like to be assured that the Ministry of Health will act to protect patients, by ensuring that medical practice in Bermuda falls into line with international standards.”The Ministry of Health did not respond to several requests for comment over the past week, while Dr Brown could not be reached.Before stepping down as Premier, Dr Brown revealed he would be supervising the project, saying in September this year: “The research side is coming. There's not a lot of legislative changes, there's some guidelines the Ministry of Health is putting in place.”Announcing guidelines were being drawn up in February 2009, Mr Bascome conceded they would not have the teeth of regulations.