The Christian Medical Association (CMA) is criticizing the Obama administration for challenging a federal court decision that has blocked government funding of embryonic stem-cell research.
CMA president Dr. David Stevens thinks politics and greed are behind the desire to fund embryonic stem-cell research, and that is why the government wants the ban lifted. He points out that some of the scientists standing up for the research are those who have conflicts of interest because they receive federal funding.
"They belong to mainly three institutions: Harvard, University of Wisconsin, and Stanford University -- all of them which have patents on embryonic stem-cell lines and royalties on any findings that people get through scientific inquiry that can be turned into a commercial thing that will go to these universities," Stevens reports. "Irving Wiessman, who's been one of the main spokesmen on this from Stanford, has made over $200 million, personally developing and selling embryonic stem-cell companies."
The CMA president suggests the Obama administration should put the priority on helping to cure patients.
"It's a waste of money to put federal tax dollars into embryonic stem-cell research," he contends. "It's not going to get the cures we want. We need to put our money where we can get real cures for real people real fast."
Stevens is urging the White House to advance ethical stem-cell research without using human embryos "as lab rats."
Contact: Bill Bumpas
Date Published: September 3, 2010
