Stem Cell Research Information + Impact

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1.: Write to Arnold, please….By Don C. Reed From: Stephen Meyer

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1.: Write to Arnold, please….By Don C. Reed

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" Stephen276@comcast.net stephen_meyer_stemcells

Fri Sep 5, 2008 5:38 am (PDT)

Write to Arnold, please…
September 5, 2008 by diverdonreed
<http://stemcellbattles.wordpress.com/author/diverdonreed/> | Edit
<http://stemcellbattles.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post\
=28>

Dear Friend of Stem Cell Research:

I need your help. Please write one letter (hard copy or fax) to the
following address:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, State Capitol Building, Sacramento, CA
95814. (Fax is 916-558-3160.)

Important: on the outside of the envelope, at the bottom left, write:
VETO S.B. 1565.

That is pretty much the message inside, too.

We need the Governor to veto a bill which will (if it becomes law)
damage and delay California's magnificent stem cell research
program. Even one short sentence (As a supporter of stem cell research,
I respectfully request that you veto Senate Bill 1565, which threatens
our great stem cell program) would be very helpful. At the top right
hand of the page, be sure to write: RE: Veto SB 1565.

Or the letter could be as long as you like, something like:

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

Please veto Senate Bill 1565 (Kuehl,Runner) which threatens the success
of California's stem cell program.

As a (state your reason for supporting stem cell research– I always
say, as the father of a paralyzed young man) I applaud your long support
for stem cell research and Proposition 71, which established
America's greatest regenerative medicine program, the California
Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

Now that program is endangered by a widely-misunderstood bill which
violates the will of the people of California. SB 1565 would quite
literally remove the priority for embryonic stem cell research, which
was the reason California voted it into law in the first place.

SB 1565 began with noble intentions, to provide low-cost medications or
therapies to the uninsured, when those products become available.
However, this is already guaranteed.

IF SB 1565 becomes law, three things will happen:

1. California's legally-established priority for embryonic stem cell
research will be removed. Senator George Runner was described by the Los
Angeles City Beat as a "virulently anti-embryonic stem cell research
Republican", and this is his amendment. Normally, Republicans are
against price controls and other infringements on the free market;
however, Mr. Runner is ideologically opposed to stem cell research in
general, and the California program in particular. This provision alone
should disqualify the bill, making it un-constitutional. The California
Constitution specifically states that changes to the program will only
be allowed if it "furthers the purpose" of the stem cell
program– removing the chief thrust of the entire program can hardly
be called furthering its purpose!

2. The governance structure of the program will be attacked. The
29-member board, the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee (ICOC) is
a group of leaders from patient advocate, medical, educational, and
biomedical communities. These are outstanding men and women: Nobel prize
laureates, Deans of Colleges, heads of biomedical organizations, and
champions from the patients rights field. SB 1565 intends to restructure
and revise this dedicated group, potentially replacing it with untrained
bureaucrats, even opponents of the program.

3. The CIRM's ability to negotiate a better deal for patients would
be denied. Right now, our glorious program has the flexibility to deal
directly with corporations, offering them financial incentives to take
risks on behalf of patients in need. For example, heart disease affects
many millions of Americans; therefore, because the market is huge, the
drug industry is eager to get involved. But there are diseases and
conditions like spinal muscle atrophy (which kills children in slow
agony, usually before the age of two) which do not affect large
numbers– therefore the market is small, and corporations have no
financial reason to risk the huge sums (often as much as one billion
dollars) to develop drugs treating that condition. Right now, the CIRM
could say to a corporation, "We'll let you charge a little more
for the heart disease drug, on condition that you spend X amount of
money developing a treatment for spinal muscle atrophy." This
negotiating power would be stripped away from the CIRM– by Senate
Bill 1565.

Senate Bill 1565 serves no useful purpose, threatens the successful
governance structure of California's program, and would interfere
with its ability to serve suffering people here and across America.

Please veto SB 1565.

Thank you.

Your Name

BTW, please go to www.stemcellbattles.com
<http://www.stemcellbattles.com/> , and click on the RSS field, so you
will get further instalments of this column sent to you directly in your
email.

send comments or questions to: stemcellbattles@aol.com
<mailto:stemcellbattles@aol.com> .
Don C. Reed
Sponsor, Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act
co-chair, Californians for Cures
Vice President, Public Policy, Americans for Cures

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