 |
 |
Return-path: <[log in to unmask]> From: [log in to unmask] Full-name: Anitahamm Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]> Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 01:43:39 EDT Subject: Fwd: Bush's Stem Cell Decision To: [log in to unmask] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="part2_cc.19331cbf.28a6200b_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10527 --part2_cc.19331cbf.28a6200b_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --part2_cc.19331cbf.28a6200b_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: <[log in to unmask]> Received: from rly-xb03.mx.aol.com (rly-xb03.mail.aol.com [172.20.105.104]) by air-xb04.mail.aol.com (v79.27) with ESMTP id MAILINXB44-0810155156; Fri, 10 Aug 2001 15:51:56 -0400 Received: from mta100.cheetahmail.com (mta100.cheetahmail.com [216.15.189.34]) by rly-xb03.mx.aol.com (v79.20) with ESMTP id MAILRELAYINXB38-0810155131; Fri, 10 Aug 2001 15:51:31 -0400 Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 19:53:36 -0000 Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]> From: "DNC Women's Vote Center" <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Bush's Stem Cell Decision MIME-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: "DNC Women's Vote Center" <[log in to unmask]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Mailer: Unknown (No Version) <HTML><BODY>Experts Criticize Bush's Limiting Stem Cell Plan <BR> <BR> "That's basically a ban in sheep's clothing." -- Arthur Caplan, ethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, on the Bush stem cell announcement. [Boston Globe, 8/10/01] <BR> <BR> Bush announced his support for embryonic stem cell research but wants to limit the research to existing cell lines. The scientific community criticized both the plan because it limits the scope of research and questioned Bush's estimate of the number of available cell lines. Advocates and ethicists called on Bush to make a full commitment to stem cell research. Here is what experts across the country are saying about Bush's flawed compromise. <BR> <BR> Bush Limited Embryonic Stem Cell Research Only to Existing Cell Lines. Bush announced his support for embryonic stem cell research, but limited research to 60 cell lines that have already been created. "I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines," Bush said. [Bush Remarks On Federal Funding For Stem Cell Research, 8/9/01] <BR> <BR> Ethicists:<BR> <BR> Ethicists Said Bush Stance Is Basically a Ban. Arthur Caplan, an ethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, objected to Bush's plan to limit research to existing cell lines. ''That's basically a ban in sheep's clothing,'' Caplan said. [Boston Globe, 8/10/01] <BR> <BR> NIH Ethicist Said Limited Research Will Not Move Us Forward. ''There will be some limited research,'' Ronald M. Green of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Embryo Research Panel said. ''But the most useful benefits may not come from using only these established lines. This doesn't provide much for learning about how to move forward.'' [Boston Globe, 8/10/01] <BR> <BR> Scientists:<BR> <BR> Scientist Said Bush Plan Like Funding Defense Department With WWII Armaments. Dr. Evan Snyder, a neurologist and embryonic stem cell researcher at Harvard Medical School and researcher at Children's Hospital in Boston, questioned the quality of existing stem cell lines and the limits of Bush's proposal. "It would be like Congress telling Bush they'll fund his defense budget, but only if he uses World War II armaments," Snyder said. "Those existing cell lines were generated with old technology. ... What if next week we find a new gene or growth factor that creates stem cells that are safer and more effective? The president has banned them." [Chicago Tribune, 8/10/01(emphasis added); Los Angeles Times, 8/10/01] <BR> <BR> Neurologist Calls Bush Decision "A Political Compromise." Dr. Jack Kessler chairman of the neurology department at Northwestern University Medical School called into question the political aspect of Bush's decision to limit stem cell research. "This is a political compromise," Kessler said. [Chicago Tribune, 8/10/01] <BR> <BR> Scientists Questioned Bush's Estimate of the Number of Cell Lines: <BR> Dr. Douglas Melton, Chairman of Cellular and Molecular Biology at Harvard University, one of the leading scientists in the field of stem cell research questioned Bush's plan. "I do not know of 60 existing cell lines. I haven't counted them up, but I believe that there's closer to 10," Melton said. "And some of those 10 cell lines don't grow well at all and are largely useless. @ There are only one or two that I know of that are helpful." [Los Angeles Times, 8/10/01(emphasis added)] <BR> <BR> Dr. John Gearhart, a developmental biologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and one of the leading scientists in the field of stem cell research questioned the existence of 60 stem cell lines and questioned the quality of these lines if they are real. "I am absolutely puzzled by this report of 60 cell lines," Gearhart said. "I wonder what the features of these cell lines are?" [Baltimore Sun, 8/10/01(emphasis added)] <BR> <BR> Dr. Jeffrey Rothstein, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins confirmed Gearhart's confusion on the existence of 60 stem cell lines and questioned their quality. "I don't know where they come from either," Rothestein said. "[A]ny time you put a limitation you impede anything that has to be done. What if half of these cell lines are poorly derived, have defects that no one knows about and they can't be used for human clinical trials?" [Baltimore Sun, 8/10/01] <BR> <BR> Caltech President Said Bush's Decision Was "Very Unfortunate." "I think it's very unfortunate," David Baltimore, president of Caltech, said of Bush's plan to limit research to existing cell lines. "What he's done is exactly what I was worried about--which is to assume that the existing lines have all the power that we need." [Los Angeles Times, 8/10/01]<BR> <BR> Cell Biologist Said Bush Plan Will Be A Risk, Because Will Lead to Private Research. Because of Bush's plan to limit cell lines, Dr. Arthur Lander, Chairman of the Department of Developmental and Cell Biology at UC Irvine, argued that the result will be more risky private research. "We are taking the risk as a nation and a society that private entities will now develop therapies that would have developed publicly," Lander said. [Los Angeles Times, 8/10/01] <BR> <BR> Researcher Said there is "No Sense" In Bush's Plan to Limit Cell Lines. "There are just of host of questions," Lawrence Goldstein, professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego said. "From a scientific perspective, there's no sense to any limit" Goldstein said. [Newsday, 8/1/01] <BR> <BR> Advocates:<BR> <BR> Christopher Reeve Said Of the Bush Plan "I Think It Will Slow Down Progress." Christopher Reeve, who is a strong advocate of embryonic stem cell research and a spinal cord injury victim, criticized the Bush plan and supported legislation in Congress to go further. "I'm just disappointed because I think it will slow down progress. The scientists that I have talked to really feel that you need new stem cells that are going to be discarded from fertility clinics anyway. And that old frozen ones may not do the job. So I'm a little bit concerned and I don't know where this 60 stem cell lines come from. There already is legislation that has been developed by Senator Harkin and Senator Specter that has wide support in the Senate, and as you remember, 212 members of the House have [written] to the president urging him to allow all kinds of stem cell research without those limitations. I believe that Congress and the Senate will [take] this up and go further," Reeve said.<BR> <BR> Scientists at the National Institutes of Health believe treatment for spinal cord injuries may be developed through stem cell research. [CNN, Larry King Live, 8/9/01(emphasis added); NIH Fact Sheet on Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Research Guidelines, 1/23/01, <A HREF="http://www.nih.gov/news/stemcell">http://www.nih.gov/news/stemcell</A>] <BR> <BR> Michael J. Fox Questions Bush Plan To Limit Stem Cell Lines. Micheal J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease and is a proponent of embryonic stem cell research, questioned the Bush plan and the quality of the stem cells he would make available for research. " [T]he question that we have is, as recently as a week ago we convened a panel of stem cell experts who knew of only 12 existing lines and so this information about 60 existing lines is brand new to us. So we have no way to verify the quality and quantity of those lines," Fox said. [NBC, Today Show, 8/10/01] <BR> <BR> Research Advocate Said Bush "Has Come Up Short." Dan Perry, executive director of the Alliance for Aging Research voiced his frustration over Bush's solution on stem cell research and called on Congress to look into the matter. "What I suspect that we will see now is that our allies in Congress from both sides of the aisle will probably hold hearings, probably bring out witnesses to examine whether this is falling too far short of what is needed," Perry said. "He has left the strong advocates of the research feeling frustrated. @ He has come up short." [New York Times, 8/10/01(emphasis added)] <BR> <BR> Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Questioned Sufficiency of Bush Plan. "We are very concerned whether this is sufficient to do the work that needs to be done," Peter Van Etten, president and chief operating officer of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation said. He added: "The limitations that he has put may limit our ability to do the work." "What we believe is that the scientific community should set the standards," Etten said. [New York Times, 8/10/01; USA Today, 8/10/01(emphasis added)] <BR> <BR> Bush Plan Is A Roadblock that May Cost Years and Lives. Carl B. Feldbaum, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which represents more than 1,000 research groups, criticized Bush plan to limit stem cell lines. Feldbaum said it "may place roadblocks to medical progress" and "may cost years, even lives." [San Francisco Chronicle, 8/10/01] <BR> <BR> NARAL Called Bush Plan Politically Motivated and A Weak Compromise. A statement released by the NARAL President Kate Michelman criticized Bush's plan to limit stem cell lines. "The President tonight offered a weak and limited compromise on stem cell research. In an attempt to politically straddle the issue, the President has pleased no one. The country was looking for bold and confident leadership. Instead, America got a tepid proposal that offers little hope to the millions who suffer from life-threatening diseases. Americans must now turn to Congress for the support needed to continue this vital research." [NARAL Press Release, 8/9/01] <BR> <BR> Congressional Republicans:<BR> <BR> GOP Rep. Morella Objects To Limiting Stem Cell Lines. Rep. Connie Morella (R-MD) joined scientists in questioning Bush's idea to limit stem cell research to existing stem cell lines. "To restrict it to the ... existing stem cell lines does not give researchers the opportunity for the genetic diversity that could really help with further research in these debilitating diseases," Morella said. [Baltimore Sun, 8/10/01]<BR> <BR> ************************<BR> <BR> Not a subscriber? To subscribe, please use this form: <BR> <BR> <A HREF="http://web.democrats.org/subscribe/wvclist.php">http://web.democrats.org/subscribe/wvclist.php</A> <BR> <BR> To unsubscribe, please use this form: <BR> <BR> <A HREF="http://web.democrats.org/unsubscribe/wvclist.php">http://web.democrats.org/unsubscribe/wvclist.php</A> <BR> <BR> Subscription requests are processed weekly. <BR> <BR> Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee. <BR> <BR> </BODY></HTML> --part2_cc.19331cbf.28a6200b_boundary--