 |
 |
OPINION: Prop. 71 Would Fund Wrong Research By: RICHARD SAMS - For the North County Times Last modified Tuesday, October 5, 2004 8:42 PM PDT The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation is one of many disease advocacy groups supporting Proposition 71, California's controversial embryonic stem cell research and cloning initiative. If voted into law, the initiative will require the state of California to fund destructive research using embryos and cloning to the tune of $3 billion over 10 years, costing California taxpayers $6 billion after interest. This astronomical sum of money is equivalent to the amount the federal government is spending on the Human Genome Project. There are more than 250,000 people living with spinal cord injuries in the United States and at least 10,000 new injuries each year. Since his injury, Christopher Reeve has become an outspoken advocate of people living with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, urging members to support therapeutic cloning and research using stem cells from embryos. Is such enthusiasm and hope justifiable? To date no human trials have occurred in the field of embryonic stem cell research. It is proving difficult to coax stem cells into becoming cells that could be implanted into human beings. Twenty years of such research in animals has shown little progress. When implanted into animals, stem cells have a propensity to degenerate into tumors. It's another story when attention is turned to adult stem cell research. In animal trials, paraplegic rats have shown dramatic functional improvement after transplants of adult stem cells. In humans, Dr. Carlos Lima of Portugal is treating patients with spinal cord injuries with their own stem cells harvested from their nasal cavities. All patients treated to date have shown some functional improvement. Dr. Michael Levesque, a neurosurgeon at UCLA School of Medicine, has transplanted a Parkinson's patient's adult stem cells into the area of brain affected by the disease. The patient experienced an 80 percent improvement in his symptoms for four years. If such fruitful research is being done in the field of adult stem cells, why is Reeve such an advocate for research that uses embryonic cells? Why is the foundation apparently blind to a field of research with such imminent promise for so many? We do know that biotech researchers who are standing in line to receive $300 million a year from California taxpayers have doled out nearly $5 million to help pass Prop. 71. These same researchers who have an obvious conflict of interest are exclaiming to the public that cures based on embryonic cell research are just around the corner for conditions such as spinal cord injuries. Leaders in the field of stem cell research without a financial interest at stake have stated clearly this is not the case. Californians need to have a clearer vision of what Prop. 71 would mean to them: Further financial troubles that will line the pockets of venture capitalists, and the inroads for cloning human beings. Richard Sams, M.D., is on the faculty at the Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton Family Medicine Residency Program in Oceanside. He serves as the lead consultant of the ethics committee. SOURCE: North County Times, CA http://tinyurl.com/6m2m8 * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn