Friday, May 27, 2005

Stem Cell Research

Yea to the Post for calling out Bush's mistake on Stem Cell Research and point out that his compromise was a fallacy. I applaud those in the House who passed support for government funding of Stem Cell Research. Bush is saying he will veto it. This is the issue that makes me truly HATE Bush. He tried to be Solomon and ending being a stooge of the extreme right wing. On every other issue, even the war, I can respect him as a human being for having a different view. I will hate those views and call him a wanker for having them, but still understand he would be different. On this I can't. It hits me personally, my Dad has Parkinson's disease, so I care about it and am not without emotion on this issue.

There is no reason that anyone can object to this. None. If you whine about not wanting your tax dollars used on something you disagree with, then I will point you to a WAR that killed 100,000 people and remind you that millions of people in this country disagreed with that one too. I didn't see Bush veto funding for the War.

If Bush wants to save lives, then provide REAL funding for Stem Cell Research. He does that and finally understands that he does not need to get reelected by the religious zealots, he might salvage his image a sliver.

1 comment:

  1. My personal interest is in finding a cure for Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. My
    now 15 year old daughter was diagnosed almost 5 years ago. So far, she has
    pricked her fingers approximately 11,000 times, and has taken about 7,500
    insulin injections. If she had cancer, she could hope to be cured – or at
    least to go into remission so she wouldn''t need 4 or 5 or 6 insulin shots
    every day just to stay alive. Right now, all we can hope for is that she
    doesn't have a heart attack or a stroke, that she doesn't go blind, that
    her kidneys keep working and that her feet and legs don't have to be amputated.

    Now, let me tell you about the economics of diabetes. Diabetics test their
    blood sugar levels at least four times a day – children with type 1
    juvenile diabetes test more like 6 to 8 timees a day. These little test
    strips that are used to measure blood glucose levels cost, conservatively
    and on average, 70 cents per strip. Diabetics who test their blood glucose
    level just 4 times per day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, bedtime) are spending
    Two Dollars and Eighty Cents per day, or a little over a thousand dollars a
    year, minimum, on these strips. That's over a billion dollars per year for
    every 1 million diabetics, and there are an estimated 17 million people
    suffering from diabetes in the US alone.

    Next, I am going to review the financials from the 2003 and 2004 Annual
    Reports of Eli Lilly & Company, one of the major producers of insulin.
    Before I do, I want to remind you that insulin will never cure diabetes. It
    is what my 15-year-old refers to as her 'lifeline'. It keeps a diabetic
    alive, but does not prevent the catastrophic side effects. And it will
    never cure anyone!

    2003: "Our worldwide sales…increaseed 14%, to 12.58 billion dollars."
    Sources of revenue: "Diabetes care products, composed primarily of
    Humulin…Humalog…and Actos…hs…had aggregate worldwide revenues of 2.57
    billion dollars." Ladies and gentlemen, 20% of the worldwide sales were
    from 3 products, 2 of which (Humulin and Humalog) are for 'maintenance' of
    type 1 diabetics. In 2003, Humulin sales in the US were 507.5 million
    dollars, and were 658.6 million dollars for Humalog.

    The 2004 numbers are equally staggering. The same three products had
    aggregate worldwide revenues of 2.61 billion dollars. Humulin sales in the
    US were only 422.7 million, but Humalog sales in the US were up to 685.4
    million dollars. An explanation offered by Eli Lilly is (and this is a
    direct quote!) "Humalog sales in the US increased 3 percent as increased
    prices offset slight volume declines."

    That's 5.18 billion dollars in a two-year period – to treat patients who
    will not get better. That's a whole loot of insurance and medicare dollars
    going to two drugs to maintain a condition for which there actually might
    be a cure.

    Breakthroughs using stem cell therapies have been announced all over the
    world, and involving many conditions, such as reversing the side effects of
    diabetes, curing type 1 juvenile diabetes, restoration of immune systems in
    cancer patients, improvement of a Parkinson's patient's motor skills by
    83%, reversal of heart tissue damage in a heart attack victim, the list
    goes on and on. Stem cells work, and more research is needed.


    This is not a religious issue. This is a health issue. This is a "where are
    my Medicare dollars going?" issue – a quality of life issue Even though
    the dollars are huge, let's not forget that the main benefits from stem
    cell research and therapies are to improve the health and to save the lives
    of millions who suffer, or who may in the future suffer from diseases that
    could be treated or cured with new stem cell therapies. We are talking
    about improvement of the quality of a human life!

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