Lab Cash Kill Bill’s “Pay Off”
August 21st, 2007 by Peter
“State’s Stem Cell Policy Begins To Pay Off,” says the headline on the front page of yesterday’s Courant. The “policy” referred to here is the 2005 law committing $100 million of taxpayer funds mostly to embryo-destroying research.
“So what’s this ‘pay off’ that’s now begun?” you ask. “Has there been some sort of medical breakthrough? Is Connecticut now reaping the economic benefits that were promised to us by proponents of the clone-and-kill bill?”
Um, no. Here’s how the article describes that “pay off”:
At UConn, Wesleyan and Yale, officials have begun to see the payoff to the policy…
Here it is now…wait for it…
– a surge of interest in stem cells among dozens of state scientists who never considered using them before [emphasis added].
That’s it. The “pay off” is that some local scientists are using taxpayer dollars for research they would not otherwise be doing.
I suppose that is a “pay off” of sorts…for the scientists. But for the embryonic human life being destroyed and the taxpayers funding it? Not so much.
Are you kidding me? You actually expected some breakthrough at the starting line. This research has just begun, and the payoff that the Courant is referring to is real. To wit, scientists who are working to come up with treatments for real problems that are often fatal now have more weapons in their arsenal, so to speak. I am convinced that the flexibility of the stem cell will allow for tons of innovations that will save the lives of many, maybe even yours or your kids. To try to prove the futility of the program by pointing out a lack of medical breakthroughs at this point is either intellectually dishonest or incredibly naive. I am guessing the former.
And you also point out that there is little pay off for the embryonic stem cells destroyed, as if you can speak for them. Well, if I recall correctly from the article, at least some of the cells were (or are expected to be) donated by families using fertility treatment. In that instance, what happens to the cells if they are not used for this potentially life saving work? You guessed it, they are discarded. What kind of pay off is that?
Wow! What a concept! Doling out free cash to generate interest for a shell game that someone else is paying the bill for! For a hundred million, you could get so-called scientists to research why pet rocks don’t grow moss. It’s no coincidence that embrionic stem cell research (unlike adult stem cell research which has had scientific success) flourishes more (but still with no positive results) in the public sector than in the private sector. In business, unlike in government, there is accountability for costs, wasted, as well as legitimate. Follow the money. Way to go, “Jodi & The Bureaucrats!” Then again, if the taking of human life at its most vulnerable stage based on the forged data of a corupt South Korean scientist for no proven medical reason other than the spawning of malignant tumors in lab rats is their lofty goal, then they’ve hit their mark. Bully for them! Newsflash: the emperor is really naked!
One argument for the funding was that CT would be left behind by a new high-tech industry. I would have liked to see the funding applicable to all stem cell research (including adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells harvested from cord blood).
Further, proposals with at least 50% matching funds from the private sector should get priority. That would ensure a focus on real cures.
Allowing that this bill was going to pass and be signed, it would have been better if it were to focus on maximizing the chance for positive impact. Water under the bridge.
Scott
Thanks for the great article. Keep up the good work.