Did Stem Cells Ruin Rick Perry’s Chances to Be President?

Earlier this year we found out that Texas Governor and GOP Presidential hopeful, Rick Perry, had received a stem cell transplant. You can read more about this here.

The details of Perry’s transplant remain somewhat obscure, but as best as we can tell he received the transplant here in the U.S., most likely in Houston, TX. The transplant apparently was autologous involving Perry’s own fat stem cells being injected in combination with surgery to treat a back problem.  The most striking thing about the transplant is that it was not FDA-approved and some have even questioned whether it was legal.

The presidential campaign has not been kind to Perry. He has fumbled during many debates (although in yesterday’s apparently some felt he did reasonably well).

Now word has leaked out that Perry is not feeling well and it has something to do with his back injury or surgery…or could it maybe even be those stem cells he received?

Perry says “no” it wasn’t the stem cell procedure that is to blame for his poor presidential campaign. He told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer:

“I had a spine surgery on the first of July and had – my adult stem cells actually were extracted and used in an incredibly successful surgery.”

But was it really so successful?

We’ll likely never know.

Because the treatment was unvetted by scientists and the FDA, the procedure was risky, but thankfully so far at least Perry seems to have not been harmed by it. I’m guessing he also was not helped by it either.

Perry also admitted to the Houston Chronicle that all is not so hunky dory after this “incredibly successful surgery”. That article goes on to say:

Despite acknowledging fatigue, Perry said he was not using his ailing back as an excuse for his campaign missteps — including blanking out when trying to remember what federal agencies he would cut; not knowing how many justices serve on the Supreme Court; and misstating the required age of eligible voters and next year’s presidential election date.

I think that although it was a misstep for Perry to get this potentially dangerous, unproven stem cell treatment that it has nothing to do with his presidential campaign and I’m hoping that it will not have harmed him health-wise in the long run. In a way this is good news, but it also is bad news in the sense that one might argue that Perry’s poor presidential campaign can only be blamed on him being a poor candidate…. not stem cells, not bad luck.