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Same is true of Arizona LEAVE LOUISIANA? Suppose you are a battlefield surgeon. Around you are wounded soldiers: groaning, bleeding, some about to die. You cannot save everyone: helping some means ignoring others. Which lives would you try to save? Here is the grim reality. "The medical personnel on the scene.move .from patient to patient, assessing their situation. Patients with non-life threatening injuries are marked as low priority. . Patients who will not survive without immediate medical attention, and are very likely to survive with help are given a high priority. basic surgery will give them a high probability of survival. . the most difficult aspect. is designating some patients as requiring too much attention, or being unlikely to survive even with extreme medical care. The.professional must make this difficult choice (because) . the same four surgeons who would need 10 hours to try and save (one person with) a slight chance of survival, may be able to save dozens of less severely wounded patients, and give each of them a very good chance at very." --http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-triage.htm In the battle for stem cell research funding, there are, unfortunately, some states "unlikely to survive". No matter how much we would like to help, there are a few states which are just way off the deep end, with such radically conservative leadership that at present there is not a lot we outsiders can do. Louisiana is one such state. Now I lived and worked in Morgan City, Louisiana for a while, and the people there are good folks like everywhere. But their leadership is about the worst I can imagine. With courageous exceptions, the Louisiana state government is owned and controlled by anti-research forces: conservative religion, conservative Republicans. The Republican Governor, Bobby Jindal, an opponent of embryonic stem cell research, himself wrote a published article describing how his Catholic faith not only exorcised a demon from a lady friend, but also cured her cancer. (http://cenlamar.wordpress.com/about-cenlamar/lamediawatch/bobby-jindal-the-story-they-dont-want-you-to-read/) Their U.S. Senator, alleged Democrat Mary Landrieu, was co-author ofSenator Sam Brownback's national bill to send researchers to jail. That billwas offered four times, backed by President Bush. Fortunately, an arousedstem cell advocacy community was able to block it in the Senate. Now, Louisiana is trying again with an extreme state law, all butguaranteed to pass. The Louisiana House voted 90-9 in favor of the legislation (House Bill 370,brought by Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Jefferson) is reportedly "being pushed byanti-abortion groups," according to a local blogger. The Senate is expectedto act similarly. HB 370 bans government funding for Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. I cannotfind the penalties for the new law, but if it is anything like the previousLouisiana attempt (January 1, 2004), the penalties for using SCNT to makenew stem cell lines will be up to ten years i! n jail (with or without hardlabor), and up to ten million dollars in fines, even more savage than theBrownback act. Louisiana is dominated by two anti-cure forces: the Republican Party, andconservative religion: primarily Catholics and Baptists. In 2004, the Louisiana Baptist Convention leaders approved a resolutionopposing embryonic stem cell research-without even a discussion. As for Catholics, although an estimated 72% of its members supportembryonic stem cell research, the Catholic Church leadership is perhaps thesingle greatest obstacle to cure. This combination of Republicans (who outnumber Democrats more than 2-1 inleadership positions) and conservative ideologues is presentlyinsurmountable. In time, as cures are found in other states, Louisiana will change itsposition, or its leadership. The families of Louisiana will remember theirfriends, and enemies. But for right now, Louisiana is about as un-American a state as you canfind. America is built on a premise of free! dom, which Louisiana conservatives areattempting to undermine. The sam e political forces which so utterly failed the state in HurricaneKatrina will now ruin that state's best hopes for cure through medicalresearch. Oh, they know how to keep up pretenses! U.S. Senator David Vitter (R)recently introduced a national tax break bill for stem cell researchcompanies-but only on those which accept the religiously-derived guidelines,i.e. no embryonic stem cell research. This is just more stacking the deck infavor of the conservative's approach. We are not fooled. Louisiana's researchers are being held back, and both the state's families,and economy will have to pay the price. Louisiana State University should be leading the way in embryonic stem cellresearch, inspiring a nation. Instead, its hands will be tied. The onlyresearch it will be allowed funding for is the extremely limited Bushdoctrine lines, those existing before August 9, 2001. What does all this restriction add up to? In 2004, Dennis Donovan, a site-selection expert for biotech companies,! hadthis to say about a similar bill. "You can kiss biotech goodbye," he said, "This has reinforced Louisiana'sreputation as a backwater state."(Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, June22, 2004) Not only are sick people kept further away from cures, but the state ofLouisiana will be denied participation in a burgeoning new industry. Howmany families will be denied an income because of this shortsightedness? Howmany communities must find other tax sources, if a source of good,well-paying jobs has been cut off for ideological reasons? And what if you were a researcher? Imagine waking up some morning to findthat your research has suddenly become illegal-- and you are now acriminal-- on the basis of ideological opinion? My unasked advice for any biomedical companies, researchers, medicalstudents, or families with a person suffering chronic illness or injury canbe summed up in two words: Leave Louisiana. P.S. The above is all my own personal opinion. The Coalition for theAdvanc! ement of Medical Research is a completely separate entity, and has noc onnection with anything I say. That noted, here is their letter, on a verysimilar Louisiana medical research bill: Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research2021 K Street, N.W., Suite 305 Washington D.C. 20006202.725.0339 www.camradvocacy.orgDedicated to Advancing Stem Cell Research April 9, 2008 The Honorable Jim Tucker. The Honorable Joel T. Chaisson, IISpeaker of the House, President of the SenateLouisiana House of Representatives Louisiana SenateState Capitol Building State Capitol BuildingP.O. Box 94062 P.O. Box 94183Baton Rouge, LA 70804 Baton Rouge, LA 70804 Dear Speaker Tucker and Senate President Chaisson: I am writing on behalf of the Coalition for the Advancement of MedicalResearch (CAMR) regarding legislation currently before the Louisiana StateLegislature. Our coalition and its 100 members oppose the Human CloningProhibition Act (SB 248). CAMR represents the voices of patients, scientists, physicians and academicinstitutionsacross the country in the de! bate over stem cell research and the future ofregenerative medicine. We have grassroots members from patient and otheradvocacy organizations in every state in the nation, including Louisiana. We join with patient groups, leading scientists, the National Academy ofSciences, and a large majority of the American people in opposing humanreproductive cloning and implantation. The Human Cloning Prohibition Act (SB248) however, goes far beyond banning reproductive cloning by prohibitingsomatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)research. SCNT is an important procedure that is fundamentally differentthan reproductive cloning and aims to save and improve lives. For thisreason, CAMR works on state, federal, and international levels to supportefforts that fund and promote SCNT research. SCNT is a research technique used to derive stem cells and as such, itcould lead to dramatic new treatments and cures for now incurable diseasesand medical conditions. SCNT could be used to help nearly 100 mi! llionAmericans suffering from cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, Parkinson 's, spinalcord injuries, heart dsease, ALS, and other devastating conditions for whichtreatments and cures must still be found. The current definition of "humancloning" in SB 248 is broadly written and includes SCNT procedures. Thestrongest and most effective ban on human reproductive cloning is one whichaims to prevent implantation and human asexual reproduction that resultsfrom implantation. Any attempt to intervene with prohibitions prior toimplantation effectively ends stem cell research that could save lives. CAMR is also opposed to any attempt to criminalize legitimate, scientificresearch. We believe SB 248 would establish a dangerous precedent by makingdoctors and scientists criminals subject to imprisonment. We are encouraged by last year's reversal of the ban on SCNT research inIowa and urge the state of Louisiana to support SCNT and other importantstem cell research efforts rather than take a step back by passingprohibitive legislation such as SB 248.Sincerely,Amy ! Comstock RickPresident,Coalition for the Advancement of Medical ResearchRayilyn BrownBoard Member AZNPFArizona Chapter National Parkinson's [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn