Charity Accuses Rival of Taking Donor Database

The American Syringomyelia Association Project, in Longview, Tex., is attempting to settle a lawsuit it is pursuing against the Chiari and Syringomyelia Foundation, a New York charity the Texas group says took a copy of it donor database, the Longview News-Journal reports.

Both organizations offer information and support to people who have been diagnosed with syringomyelia (a chronic disorder involving the spinal cord) and chiari malformations (when the lower part of the brain grows down into the cervical spinal canal and causes syringomyelia.).

The Texas organization was incorporated in 1988, and the New York group was established in 2007.

According to federal court documents filed last week, the two organizations have reached a tentative agreement about contact with potential donors while they continue to try to resolve their differences. Officials of the foundation declined to comment on the lawsuit.