Originally published June 11 2005
Stem cell patient demands apology from Florida congressman
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Susan Fajt, a spinal cord injury patient who received adult stem-cell therapy recently charged Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) of using her picture to persuade Congress that adult stem cell therapy can help heal spinal cord injuries. Weldon made the argument that embryonic stem cell research was unnecessary and unethical because of the potential of adult stem cell therapy. Experts say the therapy Fajt received in Portugal may not have involved adult stem cells at all, and may not have been responsible for her minor recoveries. Fajt says she is for embryonic stem cell research, and is angry that Weldon used her image to persuade Congress to vote against it. The measure passed, but not by a large enough margin to override the veto President Bush has promised.
On May 24, as Weldon tried to persuade members of the House of Representatives that embryonic stem-cell research was not only unethical but unnecessary, he held up a poster-size image of himself standing beside Fajt, who is clutching a walker in the photo.
She believes Weldon's comments and his use of her image gave patients and lawmakers, who were about to vote on a bill that would approve funding for embryonic stem-cell research, the false impression that adult stem-cell therapy can cure spinal-cord injuries.
"This poster is of a young lady who was paralyzed for years and had an adult stem-cell transplant," Weldon said that day.
Jaillene Hunter, Weldon's press secretary, said that Fajt in testimony last year had credited adult stem cells with aiding her recovery to the point that she could walk with the help of braces.
Fajt's July 14, 2004, testimony before the U.S. Senate," she said.
Fajt had given verbal permission to use this photograph at the time it was taken.
Fajt paid $30,000 for surgery performed by Dr. Carlos Lima, a neurologist at Hospital Egaz Moniz in Lisbon, Portugal, that involved transplanting cells taken from inside Fajt's nose into her spine.
While scientists have shown they can derive stem cells from the nasal mucosa, they're not sure if adult stem cells repair spinal cords.
"The cells Dr. Lima transplanted into my spinal cord were from my own nasal mucosa," Fajt wrote in her letter.
Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) to promote funding for adult stem-cell research, during which she said her treatment involved adult stem cells.
She said she has since learned that olfactory ensheathing cells, not adult stem cells, were likely the active ingredient in her therapy.
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