My letter to the President

[Mysty119]

This will go out in tomorrow's mail. I had already sent two comments via email in the past 3 weeks; but this one is going snail mail.

May 4, 2009




Mr. President,

An article published online on April 28, 2009 in the journal, Public Library of Science Medicine (PLoS Medicine), estimates 1,977,000 deaths each year in the United States are due to preventable risk factors.

Since the FDA is declaring our own stem cells to be drugs, this means that they have taken control of some of our physiology. They are not going to allow stem cell doctors to enhance our own stem cells in any way so as to make them clinically relevant for treatment until endless clinical studies have been performed. The 2 million preventable deaths estimated in the article above is way low. To this figure many more millions will need to be added if the FDA is allowed to prevent people from obtaining safe stem cell treatment.

Let me be clear. I am talking about our OWN stem cells (autologous cells). These are not embryonic or umbilical cord blood cells, they are adult cells; our OWN adult cells.

This article was very interesting to me because it causes me to ask: where is the same type of "motherly" concern exhibited by the FDA for our stem cells when it comes to not regulating additives in food, tobacco, liquor, etc.? They are not mandating that food that comes from cloned or genetically engineered sources be labeled as such, to my knowledge. This is preposterous. There is a little warning on cigarette packs from the Surgeon General, but does a smoker even care or take the time to read it? What about trans fat and preservatives? You can Google aspartame for some real shocking news. Diet Coke sounds a lot worse for my body than having treatment with my own stem cells! This article questions whether or not the right interventions are being used. The FDA is taking away the one intervention that could restore our health - stem cell treatment with our own stem cells! Right now, I have to leave the U.S. to get clinically relevant autologous stem cell treatment. Many of us are not well enough to do this. Travel by plane or train or bus puts most of us in jeopardy because of our impaired immune systems! And the cost is outrageous. Why can?t we have our own doctors take care of this body maintenance for us, just as they do when we need flu shots or pneumonia shots?

How has our system gotten so twisted and confused? My opinion is the huge lobbying power that large pharmaceutical companies have. Their business thrives and grows on our not being healthy; so I guess if they can find a sap in the FDA that's just what they are going to do.

How is it, Mr. President, that the FDA or any other being can classify ?our own? stem cells as drugs? What?s next? Our blood? Our bones? Our body parts?

God gave us our bodies and everything that is in them. All the disease and sickness and pain we as the human race experience can be alleviated or halted with something God had given us all along! Our OWN stem cells. And now, we can?t use them?

A group of doctors and patients want the right to have safe stem cells now. That is why the American Stem Cell Therapy Association (ASCTA) was formed; to help us get our own stem cells safely, now. ASCTA is a physician founded grassroots organization that has written strict physician and laboratory guidelines. I urge you to take a look at what the FDA is doing and apply your change and transparency ideology to this regulatory agency quickly. Lives depend on it.

Click here: ASCTA

Mr. President, I am sure that you get many, many letters every day. I know that you couldn?t possibly get to see all of them. But I sure do hope you see this one and no one ?sets it aside?, because it?s important to hundreds of thousands of people that the FDA does not regulate our own stem cells. We want a chance to heal. To feel better . To do better. To live a life and not a mere existence. I want to see my grandchildren graduate high school and college. And, I want to be there for their weddings. I don?t want to be symbolically remembered at their wedding ceremonies with a rose sitting on an empty pew.
Please hear my plea, it is only one of many and I ask that you don?t let the FDA kill more people with the endless bureaucracy. My cells are here, in my body NOW; while I?m alive.

 

[barbara]

Bea - This is certainly a heartfelt letter. I know you are working very, very hard in the grassroots effort for ASCTA. You are getting many, many gold stars.

I want to share the following quote from Wise Young (please Google him if you do not know who he is), It is from the book, "Cell of Cells", as is the rest of the story.

"In 2004, the U.S. spent less than $230 million on all human stem cell research, embryonic and adult. That same year, Singapore spent $1 billion.....We do not have a clinical trial network to support our 250,000 spinal cord injury patients nor our 8 million Alzheimer's patients. We do not have a cell source that is feasible in the U.S. We are facing a moral catastrophe."

"There are only 40,000-50,000 units of bone marrow in the registries here. And we certainly don't have the ability to scale up bone marrow cells. Yet embryonic stem cells indefinitely expand........" "And the U.S. has severely curtailed their study. It is absolutely crazy." Furthermore, he says, as a result of the 2001 Bush policy, huge numbers of spare IVF-clinic embryos have been and are being thrown away. Wasted."

Then Young goes on to note that some babies are resistant to AIDS. They have provided only 50-60 units of blood. But if their cord blood stem cells could b expanded 100-fold - which no one can do right now - then huge numbers of scientists could figure out what makes them resistant. "Yet $30 million in umbilical cord blood research funding was cut out of the recent budget by Bush," Young says.

Much study of both embryonic and adult stem cells is needed, he continues. "There is an orchestral ballet of signals that lead these cells. We need to learn them. We need to embrace stem cell therapy, invest in it, or we face a moral catastrophe of enormous proportions."

His talk was a few years ago, but has the U.S. progressed that much? President Obama has done what he promised and lifted the ban on embryonic stem cell funding, but may have also cut off some adult stem cell funding. Other countries are moving way ahead in both research and clinicals. Scientists can and do get fed up when they find that they can be liberally funded without the same restrictions in other countries and they leave the U.S. All of this does take an economical toll on the U.S. as well as the moral toll that Wise Young talked about.

People do have the power to change things and that's what ASCTA is trying to do. It is a small step, but victory would be lifesaving for a vast number of people. We cannot let negativity stop us and that is why I ask those reading these posts to please take an active part. ASCTA is getting noticed, but it is a day in and day out battle. Take the time to respond to the alerts that are posted and then ask a friend or colleague to join ASCTA everyday. Then there will be no stopping us. We will get what we want. I don't know of anyone not wanting a cure for whatever ails them and this is the best opportunity we have had to make our voices heard. We don't want to forget safety and ASCTA's guidelines provide for that. For those that think adult stem cell therapy would not help them, this movement will help secure attention to stem cell therapy of all kinds. It will help educate and hopefully Wise Young's moral catastrophe can be averted. As it it, he is dead on now.