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'WE'LL GO SOMEWHERE
OPINION
The Palm Beach Post
06 June 2005
Gary and Judy Susser believed that they had nothing to lose when they took their blind, quadriplegic toddler from Boca Raton to Tijuana, Mexico, for a stomach injection of umbilical-cord stem cells. One year later, the 4-year-old with cerebral palsy can see (with help), walk (with help) and talk (sporadically). Although scientists studying umbilical-cord blood and embryonic stem cells may disagree about whether to credit the injections for Adam Susser's improvement, it is clear who is to blame for more and more Americans seeking such risky, experimental treatment on foreign soil.
Days after President Bush propped up babies in a photo op to oppose an expansion of stem-cell research, he reiterated to parents whose children endure more struggle than celebration that they should not hold out hope for help in this country. "I know that (there are) moms and dads across the country - in agony about the fate of their child," Mr. Bush said during a May 31 news conference. "And my message to them is that there is research going on, and hopefully, we'll find the cure, but at the same time, it's important in this society to balance ethics and science."
Mr. Susser, in an recent interview with a Post reporter, was not swayed by the president's patronage: "I will go to Israel and Korea. If our president doesn't want to support embryonic stem-cell research, we'll go somewhere and do it right."
Support for expanded stem-cell research transcends partisan and religious lines. It grows out of tragic personal experience and a reasonable value on the quality of life. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., has gone bald from chemotherapy treatments for Hodgkin's disease, "and not to have the availability of the best of medical care," he said last week, "is simply atrocious."
The use of umbilical-cord stem cells - taken from umbilical-cord blood or bone marrow - is less controversial than human embryonic stem-cell therapy, which uses genetic material from human embryos to match a diseased patient's cells. Umbilical-cord stem cells do not produce as many types of tissues as embryonic stem cells, making them less likely to lead to as many effective treatments or cures of debilitating diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes. Still, the Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve any clinical trials that would allow even the types of injections Adam Susser has been receiving. As President Bush stymies stem-cell research in the United States - even from embryos that otherwise would be discarded by fertility clinics - scientists in South Korea and Europe are making tremendous progress.
If the best the Bush administration can offer is a vapid, offensive lecture, parents and patients desperate for relief will continue to look for hope elsewhere - at whatever risk to themselves.
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