Doug Sipp finally outed

[barbara]

Hooray, someone has finally looked into Doug Sipp. Sipp is continually quoted in media articles as a spokesperson and is never vetted. His credentials are really not worthy of what I would call an expert and yet the media seems to continually use him as a source to call upon.

He is NOT on the side of sick patients who only want access to their own stem cells. Instead, he preaches from his own bully pulpit attacking any who dare attempt to help patients. He lives and works in Japan. He does not make it clear that he has conflicts of interest. There is NO money in letting us use our own stem cells. That's the bottom line. Sipp needs to make it clear what he is really protecting. It's not patients. Since, he has not done that, someone else seems to have stepped up to the plate. Thank you whoever you are.



http://sctmonitored.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[Dana George]

Thank You!

Barbara,

I've been lurking a bit, following the Doug Sipp saga. Reading his blog has frustrated me to no end, knowing that he's spreading misinformation in order to please his bosses. Thank you for this thread. It feels like an island of sanity in a sea of self-serving lies.

As you know, Barbara, I have interviewed dozens of patients who have received benefit by being part of Regenerative Medicine Institute, Mexico's stem cell trial. Perhaps what bothers me most about Doug Sipp is how clear it is that he's in someone's pocket. I have to wonder just how low a price he has set on his dignity, if he's proud of how he besmirches his own name.

The first thing I said when asked to do some writing for Regenerative Medicine Institute, Mexico was, "I'll give it a stab, but if I find out there's anything unethical going on, I'm done." Honestly, this is not only my reputation, but my family name on the line. I just don't get how someone could put a price on his family name.

Perhaps if Sipp were an honest-to-goodness writer, he'd know that there are plenty of other jobs out there and all the money in the world is not worth looking like a fool.

 

[barbara]

Dana George - Unfortunately, he isn't the only one out there who has not been upfront about their own special interests or credentials.

Mr. Sipp is participating in the upcoming World Stem Cell Summit being held in Florida. I find it disheartening that he would be invited and yet no patients are on any of the panels as far as I am aware. It's imperative we all make our voices heard. It's also time that organizers of these conferences make sure that patients are represented. After all, there would be no stem cell industry needed if it were not for the misfortune of patients.

You are a good writer and hopefully you will continue to voice your concerns whenever and wherever you possibly can. If you or anyone you know is attending the Summit, it would be a good time to bring the subject of patient representation up. This goes for anyone reading this, not just Dana.

 

[Dana George]

Sane Voices

The fact that charlatans like Doug Sipp can be invited to speak at a stem cell conference of any kind is beyond frustrating. Why is it that the nuts of the world are the ones who are most likely to be heard?

Those of us who have any experience with stem cells -- and have seen the good that is accomplished on a regular basis -- must speak up. My lone voice doesn't mean much, but all of us working together can cause a ruckus.

I have a granddaughter on the way and what I want more than anything for that little girl is that she live in a world where honesty is respected.

Barbara -- do you have any ideas of what we can do to get the truth out there? More importantly, is there anything I can do right now to make a difference?

 

[barbara]

You can make a difference by commenting when you read articles that fail to vet those used as spokespeople in them. Also, getting the patient message out wherever and whenever you can.

Many people, including those in the research community, do not understand that there are millions of very sick and disabled people in this country with a poor quality of life. Many have exhausted all types treatment using conventional medicine. They do not have the luxury of time, waiting years and even decades for research to be perfected. I have run across some in the research community that this never even dawned on. I think they thought that most patients would be content to wait until efficacy was completely established and that most had simple problems like tennis elbow.

If you see articles, especially those that are one sided, please post them here on the forum. You can also express your views to the author and ask why the sources weren't vetted for conflicts of interest and why the other side was not presented. If we don't start holding the media accountable, it will continue to slant the discussion away from what should be the main concern of all the research and regulation which is the patients.

You can also draw attention to articles that are poorly written and one sided using other forms of social media. We are fighting both media ignorance as well as a lack of awareness of the general public to our plight. Some believe that the entire issue has to do with embryonic stem cells and they pin the blame on President Bush. As we all know on this forum, that issue concerned federal funding only, was initiated by President Clinton and has zero to do with the FDA regulating our own stem cells as drugs anyway. That's the dog we have in the fight and our mission is to take back our rights to use our own stem cells in therapies that we can get at commercial clinics and from our own doctors.