An NIH fetal tissue research ban is now unfolding. Human embryonic stem cell research funding may be next. Such politically-motivated actions are bad for science and our country. NIH fetal tissue research ban I’ve been concerned for months that NIH might ban funding of both human fetal tissue research and possibly human embryonic stem cell (hESC) […]
NIH fetal tissue research ban unfolding; hESC work next? Read More »
It was interesting to hear a few months ago that Dr. Chadwick Prodromos, who runs a few stem cell clinics including one in Chicago, was at a D.C. roundtable on regenerative medicine put together by HHS Secretary RFK Jr. More recently we heard that Kennedy got stem cells in Antigua. Since Dr. Prodromos also runs
The FDA has a new CBER Director Dr. Vinay Prasad. CBER is the FDA’s biologics branch that handles things like cell therapies and vaccines. The branch has been in near-constant upheaval this year. For a time, Scott Steele was acting CBER Director. It wasn’t clear if he was there in a temporary capacity or would
FDA critic Vinay Prasad to run CBER: more politics than experience? Read More »
A new Florida stem cell bill directly challenges the FDA and its CBER branch. If passed, which seems relatively likely, the Florida bill would become of state trend. A Utah stem cell law and a broader Nevada biologics law legally okay non-FDA approved biologics. These and other pending state efforts pose major risks to FDA
Florida stem cell bill is part of state trend to sidestep FDA Read More »
How bad could things get with RFK Jr. changing the FDA’s approach to unproven stem cells? I’ve been asking myself this for months since Kennedy’s post that mentioned stem cells on X. New developments suggest things will get much worse. Up until about a week or two ago, my feeling has been that things could
“Very scary”: Per Marks, RFK Jr. aiming for weaker regs on unproven stem cells Read More »
I had a feeling late last year that I’d frequently be writing about RFK Jr. and his impact on the FDA. However, I didn’t realize some of that would be writing for STAT News. As I mentioned a few days ago, I now have a new regular column over there. I thought the column would
Weekly reads: RFK Jr. stem cell summit, FDA OKs eye cell therapy, cartilage repair Read More »
There were many reasons for the U.S. Senate not to confirm RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary. Reasons that transcended politics. Nonetheless, Senate Republicans confirmed him today for that post. Some of them had voiced serious concerns before including one physician Senator, Dr. Bill Cassidy, but they all voted for Kennedy anyway. All except Mitch McConnell,
Initial reactions to RFK Jr. being HHS Secretary Read More »
Many of us first became aware of Vivek Ramaswamy as a Republican candidate for President. He was most well-known before that as a biotech leader. Given that biotech background, I decided to learn more about him. Surprisingly, his biomedical efforts may have started with embryonic stem cells. That caught my attention. This was way back
Vivek Ramaswamy & his surprising stem cell start Read More »
A grand jury indicted Missouri state representative and assistant physician Patricia Derges for allegedly selling and injecting patients with fake stem cells. The injection was reportedly just of amniotic fluid, but Derges allegedly claimed it was a stem cell treatment. NBC News was one of several media outlets that broke the story here after the
Lawmaker indicted for selling fake stem cells for COVID & more Read More »
How can we scientists find ways to keep doing our research during the COVID19 pandemic even if it has nothing to do with the coronavirus? Also, how should those of us involved in science communication talk about the outbreak? At a more basic level, how can scientists try not to go bonkers during this dark
Scientists try not to lose it with their labs shut by the pandemic Read More »