http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110920/full/477377a.html
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The US Food and Drug Administration is clamping down on unapproved stem cell treatments. Stem Cell clinics circumvent restrictions on unproven uses by administrating treatments outside the country. Texas may go a step further. Governor Rick Perry promotes Texas stem cell research and treatment as a commercial benefit to Texas. Governor Perry received a treatment himself for low back pain. Treatments are promoted for a wide variety of applications and threaten to unleash a new wave of quackery.
Share |
The US Food and Drug Administration is clamping down on unapproved stem cell treatments. Stem Cell clinics circumvent restrictions on unproven uses by administrating treatments outside the country. Texas may go a step further. Governor Rick Perry promotes Texas stem cell research and treatment as a commercial benefit to Texas. Governor Perry received a treatment himself for low back pain. Treatments are promoted for a wide variety of applications and threaten to unleash a new wave of quackery.
Some human trials have resulted in unfortunate outcomes and the scientific community and the FDA demand caution. Governor Perry, however, challenges that caution continuing to promote commercialization.
Romance and intrigue pepper the long 4,500 year history of medicine. Starting with Hippocrates, the science and high standards of the profession have waged a dynamic struggle between objectivity (inductive reasoning) and philosophical belief systems. (deductive reasoning at best) Old beliefs conflicted with direct evidence. Clerical and political leaders conflicted with Scientific medicine. The first physician to describe the blood flow through the lung, Michael Servetus, was burned at the stake with all his books by order of the Inquisition and the insistence of Calvin.
The political part has not changed much. Politicians should stay ouut of medical care, but leave decisions involving patients to the medical schools, the CDC, research and credible professional societies --- putting patient safety and care above all else.
