A dramatic shift of direction for stem cell advocate Michael J Fox

[barbara]

Michael J. Fox advocated more for embryonic stem cell research than other types of stem cell therapy. He made an advertisement video in support of Missouri US Senate candidate Clare McCaskill in 2006. She supports federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Unfortunately, many years and a lot of money have been spent pursuing embryonic stem cell research with little to show for it. In the interview he did with Diane Sawyer (see link at bottom), it sounds as if he was mainly interested in making sure that embryonic stem cell research continued to be federally funded. I believe that those that have put all their eggs in the embryonic basket (no pun intended) may find out that other avenues are more promising, just as Mr. Fox has.


BioEdge
by Michael Cook | 19 May 2012 |

Five or six years ago the ethical dilemmas in human embryonic stem cell research were the hottest story in bioethics. One of the many celebrities promoting funding for it was Michael J. Fox, an actor whose career has been severely curtailed by Parkinson's disease. As an extremely effective patient advocate, he claimed that opponents were enemies of hope.

Now, without any fanfare, he has changed his mind. In an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC News, Fox announced that other avenues of research are more promising:

"I'm glad that I put the effort into promoting it. My quest in that regard was really about research freedom and not shutting down avenues of research because of ideological reasons that were countered by the majority opinion of whether it was worthwhile doing. Hopefully stem cell research will result in something. I'm glad we found for it and the right to do it but there's other areas that we are pursuing...

“Stem cells are an avenue of research that we’ve pursued and continue to pursue but it’s part of a broad portfolio of things that we look at. There have been some issues with stem cells, some problems along the way...

“It’s not so much that [stem cell research has] diminished in its prospects for breakthroughs as much as it’s the other avenues of research have grown and multiplied and become as much or more promising. So, an answer may come from stem cell research but it’s more than likely to come from another area."

Fox's foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, is the largest private funder of Parkinson’s disease research in the world. It recently launched an on-line initiative to encourage participation in clinical trials of drugs, not stem cells.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/newsmakers-26771768/michael-j-fox-on-stem-cell-research-29331644.html

 

[LLL6521]

Chasing the symptom and not the cause

It still amazes me the continued fanfare and preponderance with embryonic stem cell (ESC) research and the funding for it. This issue is overshadowing all the recent discoveries with adult stem cells. The key is autologous stem cell research and how much more superior and controllable it is compared to ESC. Recently, research has found ways to regenerate dopamine producing cells in the brains of rats.
His foundation has taken a direction to reduce the symptoms with more drugs and not finding ways to curing it. Listening to the interview, the lady sitting next to Michael J Fox seems to be the person managing the foundation totally. It is still admirable what they are trying to accomplish, but the foundation really needs to reevaluate their strategy.

 

[barbara]

It was obvious to me that Diane Sawyer, like many in the media, had no clue that there actually is something else besides embryonic stem cell research. It was not one of her best interviews as she appeared to know little about the subject. If his foundation focused on legislation concerning the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research as he mentioned, then I don't believe that was money well spent.

You are right on when you say the issue of federal funding overshadows the research and actual clinical applications of adult stem cells. I cannot say with 100% certainty, but I was told by some in the research field that getting a grant from the Michael J. Fox foundation for adult stem cell research was all but impossible.

 

[Bobcat]

Evidently, a lot of celebrities like Claire McCaskill. It's too bad that she doesn't work towards revamping the FDA instead of more embryonic stem cell research. I think Mr. Fox got outfoxed by someone that jumped on the embryonic stem cell bandwagon for political reasons.

I found this information online:
Claire McCaskill has a series of liberal celebrities who are funding her campaign. In the most recent report, she showed nearly $50,000 raised from celebrities.

 

[barbara]

The following Q and A is from his foundation's website. He is of course free to use his own money any way he sees fit, but by law the foundation cannot support any candidates. How many people would be able to draw the distinction between his support and his foundation's support? I doubt if a lot of the public is even aware of such a law.


Q:I've seen Michael J. Fox campaigning for political candidates during election season. Does the Foundation decide which campaigns he will participate in?


A: The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is not involved in any activities pertaining to any candidate for election in any political race. When Michael J. Fox becomes involved in the campaigns of specific candidates, he does so as a private individual, not in his capacity as founder of The Michael J. Fox Foundation. Mr. Fox's decisions on this front are his and his alone, and the Foundation is not in any way involved in any aspect of his advocacy for individual candidates in specific races.
As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, the Foundation is prohibited by IRS regulations to endorse, contribute to, work for or otherwise support any candidate for office. While we are permitted to use a small percentage of resources to engage in issue-related political activities, we cannot, under any circumstances, participate in political activities associated with a particular candidate.

 

[Jeannine]

I blame the ill informed media and our Congress for pushing this agenda. Millions of dollars and valuable research time have been wasted.