Australian Physician/Bioethicist Reveals Huge Profits are Motive Behind Cloning and Embryonic Stem Cell Research Push
Child with Cerebral Palsy Who Could Not See or Speak Does Both Following Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Therapy
CA Conflict of Interest
Successful Human Treatments Already Being Performed Using Human Adult/Umbilical Stem Cells: http://www.stemcelltherapies.org/
This Webpage Gives Ethical Stem Cell Research References: http://www.stemcelltherapies.org/stemumtherapies.htm
Dr. Abboud says stem cell therapy will be a rich man’s treatment which creates a big, new industry. That, says Australian medical doctor, bioethicist and lecturer at the University of New South Wales, Dr. Amin Abboud, is the reason for the big push for embryonic stem cell research and cloning. LifeSiteNews.com interviewed the dynamic, typically Austalian, young doctor [Campaign Life Coalition,Toronto, 25Sept04] while he was on a one day stopover on the way back to Australia from conferences in Europe. The Australian bioethicist related a venture capitalist (makes risky investments for potential large profits) friend telling him, “if someone came to my office tomorrow with a cure for malaria and wanting me to invest in it, I would laugh them out of my office.”
Abboud: “Why is that? Because malaria is a poor person’s disease. It’s a disease affecting poor countries and obviously poor people can’t afford to pay for expensive drugs. But he (the friend) said I will invest in stem cell technology because it’s going to be, and it’s very important to acknowledge this, in the end stem cell therapy will be a rich man’s treatment, especially embryonic stem cell therapy. Abboud summarized, “We should never forget the financial imperatives in the whole cloning and stem cell debate and that’s why there’s a very big push for embryonic stem cell research.” IVF has been a huge factor in setting off the stem cell and cloning controversy, said Abboud, The huge numbers of unwanted embryonic humans left over from decades of IVF created an “ethical nightmare” he said, and along with the first cloning discoveries, set off the demands by scientists for embryonic experimentation and advanced cloning.
Abboud emphasizes that with all these humans in cold storage from IVF “we have to look for solutions that treat them with respect” and that “although there are likely not many solutions”, he says, “we have to discover them.” However, he warns, “we cannot say, oh well, they’re going to die anyway, let’s experiment on them. This is one of the first times in human history where we’ve used human guinea pigs. I think apart from certain other periods, like the period of Nazi occupation and other similar periods, we have never other periods where we’ve used human guinea pigs like this and one prominent scientist in Australia, speaking before the Senate Committee said that.” “Normally”, continued Dr. Abboud, “the process is you start with animal models and then you test it out on humans. But here, with embryonic research we’re going straight into human research, which is a bizarre step but it reflects how, in our society, the dignity of the human embryo has dropped right down. Really, that’s why we have the embryo debate right now and that’s why we have the cloning debate. It’s all about people who have lost the dignity of the human embryo, have specific vested interests, large finances and are trying to take advantage of that situation.” [LIFESITENEWS.COM SPECIAL REPORT http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/oct/041029a.html 29Oct04, Toronto]
CHILD WITH CEREBRAL PALSY WHO COULD NOT SEE OR SPEAK DOES BOTH FOLLOWING UMBILICAL CORD STEM CELL THERAPY — During Dec04 the Sinclair Broadcast Group produced and aired a 5 minute video news segment concerning the promise and utility of umbilical cord stem cell therapy. The video focuses on Adam Susser and his father, prominent Florida consumer affair’s attorney, Gary Susser. Adam was cortically blind and could not speak prior to receiving human umbilical cord stem cells. He now can both see and speak. This 5 minute segment is now available online for viewing at no charge: http://www.stemcelltherapies.org/ Click resources, and go to item # 12. Dr. Payne at Steenblock Research Institute wants those who elect to view the video to be aware of this: In the video the FDA raises 2 issues: (1) potential disease contamination of stem cells; and (2) rejection. The human umbilical cord stem cells (hUCSC) used by physician Fernando Ramirez in Mexico (shown in the video) are rigorously screened and certifiably free of major disease pathogens like Hepatitis A, B, C, HIV, cytomegalovirus and such. Also, as no blood antigens get into the hUCSC mix used by Ramirez et al, the likelihood of rejection is nil. And indeed, in over 100+ cases I’ve followed over the last 2 years and in the hundreds of documented cases worldwide involving use of pure cord blood-derived stem cells, rejection is so rare (and so mild when it does crop up) as to be virtually a non-issue. [The SBG news video includes footage of pioneering physician Dr. David Steenblock [dir, Steenblock Research Institute, San Clemente, CA] and research physician Dr. Fernando Ramirez (Mexico). n Valko, 8Feb05 http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb206140.htm February 8, 2005]
CA CONFLICT OF INTEREST -Ten of the 29 directors of CA’s new stem cell program serve on biotech or pharmaceutical firms’ boards or have extensive holdings in those industries; critics challenge their ability to fairly represent taxpayers in doling out $3 billion in state funds. [21Jan05, By Laura Mecoy — Bee Los Angeles Bureau (310) 546-5860 or [email protected]. http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/ca/story/12095894p-12966018c.html]