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Bob, Clarification, please. Just some points that come to mind... IF "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance" how then can you say,>> "I'm afraid that I do trust everyone, including the US Government, >> until I find that I can't trust them anymore?"...... Under these conditions, mightn't you be too late? Let's go beyond your grandparents' time to our time. If we had demonstrated eternal vigilance over the years and had joined together the way we can(and I'll never understand why we don't) would we have such an apathetic public? Would we not have a majority of citizens who vote instead of a citizenry that is slowly giving up one of its greatest privileges? If we were vigilant, would not the health, welfare, education and the futures of our children, our nation's greatest jewels, be our number one concern? Would we have continued to pay teachers less than many garbage disposal technicians(I do not begrudge them their salaries)? Would we not hold parents responsible for their children? If we were vigilant, would we not have the power to guarantee that our government fulfill promises made regarding the health and medical well being of veterans of WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, the Gulf, etc.? In fact, had we been vigilant and gotten the facts instead of propaganda, would we have truly sanctioned any but WWII? Going further, would we have lost control and allowed the Congress of the United States to have the most supreme retirement and medical care while veterans and current servicemen and their families get the least amount of care and are often eligible for food stamps? At what point did Congress and our legislatures become so omnipotent? WHERE WERE WE? Further, if we were vigilant, would we have allowed huge companies to merge(we used to have laws preventing this), CEO's to garner millions while long-time employees lost(and are losing)jobs and years of or all of their retirement funds. Dare I mention the minimum wage and families attempting to survive? What about the overwhelming power of the IRS until recently? Look how long that change took! Where did vigilance go, and where were we when they got such autocratic power? With early vigilance we could have prevented OUR congressional representatives from vested interests. Maybe if their financial worth were as limited as some of ours have been they would truly represent us! Too many of us have trusted I fear. Too many of us have taken this wonderful country and what it offers for granted. We have allowed the magic words GREED and POWER to pervade every phase of our existences. That's why research scientists fail to follow FDA rulings. That's why the private sector will have control of stem cell research unless Congress develops an unbiased, ethical process. How sad it will be if stem cell research becomes a buyer's market unavailable to the average patient! Members of our legislatures and members of Congress have all the coverage they need for themselves and their families. On the whole, they don't hunger for familial protections and opportunities. No matter what happens, they are covered-even those who are vehemently against the research(one can change one's mind)in a family emergency. In reality, it may be that most of us have willingly entrusted our lives to other people's hands whether is be employer, members of the legislatures, congressional representatives or our physicians, etc. Given this, it is for each one of us to decide whether or not we are getting what we have literally paid for. Whatever the conclusion, may I suggest that we need to be vigilant first and consider trust second. Isn't that what part of the stem cell debate is all about? May we walk together in the headdress of the sun. E At 10:09 AM 10/7/2000 -0700, you wrote: >Date sent: Sat, 7 Oct 2000 11:59:18 -0400 >Send reply to: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network <[log in to unmask]> >From: "Marjorie L. Moorefield" <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Re: Stem Cell >To: [log in to unmask] > >> I'm afraid that I do trust everyone, including the US Government, >> until I find that I can't trust them anymore. I can't imagine living >> in a country where I couldn't trust the government, that was something >> my Grandparents gave to me when they came to the USA in 1702. I >> sometimes think its ironic that I was born free, and have never been >> in a war torn land, to have so many friends in foreign countries who >> are now in grave danger. Life sure has a way of turning things around >> doesn't it? >> > >While I have never lived in a "war-torn land" either, my first wife >(deceased) did. She escaped the Holocaust by only a few weeks! >While I support the American system, I am not totally convinced that >some of the people who are part of it are interested in the democratic >principles that this nation is founded upon. The Constitution is our >protection; but that document does not always "cover" the newest >developments of science. > >Not long ago, I served as an evaluator (and expert witness) in a >lawsuit involving a *very* prestigious academic medical institution. >The researchers there were working with a new procedure to treat a >neurological condition (not PD) and were approved by the FDA to use >a certain procedure and drug combination. After a number of bad >results (involving patient deaths and serious disabilities), the >manufacturer of the material reported to the FDA that there was >something wrong with the procedure and asked that the research be >stopped until the problem was determined. The FDA, in turn, ordered >(in writing) all institutions using the method to stop. > >Well, at this institution, the researcher decided that he "knew better", >and ignored the order. He went ahead and continued to use the >procedure, causing the death of one patient and the paralysis of >another. When the "Human Experiment Committee" at the institution >protested, the protest was "covered up" by the researchers. > >The family of the patient who died sued. The institution had big-time, >expensive lawyers to defend them and the patient's family was at a >distinct disadvantage. Despite this (and I will take some credit), a >good case was mounted, and the institution finally settled for a >moderately large sum. That did not bring back the patient; but >hopefully, it exposed the "researchers" and will give them second >thoughts next time. > >It is this kind of "research" that could develop with stem cells; and I >am not sure that the current "oversight" process is good enough to >prevent such. I don't remember who said this, but, "The price of >freedom is eternal vigilance..." > > >Best, > >Bob > > >********************************************** >Robert A. Fink, M. D., F.A.C.S., P. C. >2500 Milvia Street Suite 222 >Berkeley, California 94704-2636 >Telephone: 510-849-2555 FAX: 510-849-2557 >WWW: http://www.dovecom.com/rafink/ > >mailto:[log in to unmask] > >"Ex Tristitia Virtus" > >********************************************* > >