cross-posted from the ALS webforum at MGH:

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Topic:   Thompson says ESCR decision not due until summer
Author:  jed81851
Posted:  March 05, 2001 12:36 AM

PALS,

We've got a reprieve. More time to work.

Thompson says it will be a legal, not political decision. But the Admin
could be laying the groundwork simply to allow a new HHS counsel to declare
funding not legal. Slick and easy--blame it on him (or her).

We need to keep building steady pressure, building our base. Everything is
political to a politician.

JD


Thursday, March 1, 2001

Stem Cell Study Decision Due by Summer

by MARLENE CIMONS, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON--During his first tour of the National Institutes of Health,
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said Wednesday that
the administration would decide by summer whether to allow controversial
stem cell research to proceed.

Stem cells are the body's master cells, from which organs and all types of
body tissues are formed, and researchers believe they hold great promise in
the treatment, even cure, of many diseases. While Congress explicitly
forbids research using embryos, the law does not mention stem cells, and
the most dynamic stem cells come from embryos.

Thompson, who is an abortion foe, describes himself, however, as
"passionate about research." He vowed Wednesday that the administration's
decision on stem cell research would be based on legal grounds, rather than
personal philosophy about abortion.

Thompson's comments came after he spent nearly three hours at NIH, the one
government agency that emerges a clear winner in the Bush budget process,
with a nearly $2.8-billion increase, its biggest in history.

President Bush repeatedly has pledged to complete former President
Clinton's goal of doubling the NIH budget to $27.3 billion by 2003.

His proposed 13.6% increase for the next fiscal year keeps this promise on
track; in 1998, the NIH budget was $13.7 billion and incrementally has
increased every year since to its fiscal 2001 level of $20.3 billion.

Thompson extolled the work of NIH, long regarded as the world's premier
biomedical facility, stressing that "President Bush and I certainly
understand [its] importance."

Moreover, the administration will not tell NIH how to spend the dollars, he
said, adding, however, to laughter that he personally hopes they give
hearing experts "a good chunk of money [since] I've lost the hearing in my
right ear."

Meeting briefly with reporters after touring several of the 26 institutes
and offices--including its transplantation, cancer and AIDS
clinics--Thompson said he has given the green light for researchers to
apply to NIH for the funding of stem cell research. The deadline for these
applications is March 15.

The Bush administration has been under tremendous pressure from the
scientific community to fund the research; recently, 80 Nobel laureates
signed a letter to Bush urging him to allow the work to continue.

Bush in the past has expressed strong opposition to stem cell research
because the cells most often are taken from embryos that are destroyed. The
research has been heatedly opposed by anti-abortion activists.

While Thompson counts himself as an abortion foe, he has in the past
praised stem cell research--and with regional pride. Researchers in his
home state of Wisconsin, where Thompson served as governor until joining
the Bush administration, were among the first to isolate and grow stem cell
lines.

Thompson said that NIH's lawyers interpreted the law as allowing funding
when stem cells are obtained from embryos destroyed independent of
research, "but this has been questioned by other lawyers."

Asked whether the administration's recommendation would be based on a legal
review of the law, rather than personal philosophy on abortion, Thompson
replied: "Yes."

In other far-ranging comments about NIH, Thompson said he hoped to find new
ways to attract talented young scientists to the agency and retain them,
and promised to try to accelerate the search for a new NIH director. The
post has been vacant since the departure of Dr. Harold Varmus in 1999.

"We've got some great names [as candidates], and we are in the process of
interviewing them," he said. But "the process in Washington does not move
rapidly. It is amazing. Everything takes a long period of time. Hopefully,
we can get through the red tape."

He added: "When I was a mere governor, I could wake up with a great idea
and have somebody carry it out that day. I come to Washington, get a great
idea--and I have to go to OMB," a reference to the Office of Management and
Budget, which must clear most initiatives.

Thompson emphasized that funding decisions at NIH would be left to the
scientists, but added that it was reasonable to assume "the emphasis will
be on cancer, AIDS, diabetes--and, hopefully, hearing loss."


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janet paterson, an akinetic rigid subtype parkie
53 now / 44 dx cd / 43 onset cd / 41 dx pd / 37 onset pd
TEL: 613 256 8340 SMAIL: PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario K0A 1A0 Canada
EMAIL: [log in to unmask] URL: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/