Federal Legislation of Importance to People With Parkinson’s 

TAKE ACTION ! 

RESEARCH FUNDING FOR NETRP

 Write or call your Senators and Representatives to support funding for  the Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Research Program (NETRP) under the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at $49 million in the Fiscal Year 2007 Department of Defense Appropriations bill.  This important Department of Defense program conducts promising peer-reviewed research to improve military preparedness and readiness by preventing and treating neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s.  This level of funding is not an expansion of the program.  Your support for this level of funding is necessary to ensure the NETRP can fulfill its mission and fund necessary and on-going research projects that are already underway. 

For more information see:

http://www.parkinsonsaction.org/content/view/113/6/

 STEM CELL RESEARCH 

 In May 2005, a bipartisan group of 238 members of the House of Representatives voted in favor of H.R. 810. It is imperative that the Senate vote this year to allow important biomedical research to move forward.  Ask your Senators to encourage Senator  Frist to hold a Senate vote on H.R. 810 without amendments before the 2006 Memorial Day recess. H.R. 810 will expand the current Federal policy allowing researchers to use embryonic stem cells derived after August 9, 2001, and will establish federal guidelines to ensure that embryonic stem cell research moves forward in a safe and ethical manner. The bill specifies strict ethical guidelines. The stem cells may only be derived from IVF-created embryos. After the couple seeking fertility treatment has decided that they will no longer use the embryos to have children and they will otherwise be discarded, the couple then has the option of donating their embryos. The couple must provide written informed consent, and would not receive any compensation. 

For More information see:

http://www.parkinsonsaction.org/content/view/105/6/

New York Times
April 13, 2006
Spitzer Unveils $1 Billion Stem Cell Proposal
By BRUCE LAMBERT

MANHASSET, N.Y., April 12 — Staking a position on a politically sensitive issue, Eliot Spitzer, who is running for governor, promised at a press conference on Wednesday that his administration would push for a $1 billion bond to pay for stem cell and other medical research.

Mr. Spitzer, the state's attorney general, said the money for research on stem cells and other promising treatments would be the "centerpiece" of the state's health care policy if he were elected.

In making the announcement at a medical research center on Long Island, Mr. Spitzer ventured onto the home turf of his rival, Thomas R. Suozzi, the Nassau County executive, a fellow Democrat and a politically moderate Roman Catholic who has differed with him on some social issues, including same-sex marriage. Mr. Suozzi opposes such marriage.

Some Catholics oppose stem cell research as a desecration of human life because it uses surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization. On Wednesday, calls to Mr. Suozzi's campaign office and his county office seeking his position on the matter were not returned.

Supporters of the research say it could save lives. Mr. Spitzer said New York was falling behind most other states in stem cell research, especially after the Bush administration's ban on most such projects.

"If Washington is going to fail us, states must step into the breach," he said. Of the national Republican administration, he said, "Time and time again it has put politics over science."

Mr. Spitzer leads the Democrats in the race for governor and also leads polls pitting him against potential Republican rivals.

His choice for lieutenant governor, State Senator David A. Paterson, developed the plan and appeared with Mr. Spitzer to discuss it. Mr. Spitzer said that Mr. Paterson would be his point man on the program.

The two spoke at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, a research arm of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System and an example of the kind of scientific organization that Mr. Spitzer said would get research funds.

Though Mr. Spitzer has accused Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican, of excessive spending and debt, he said medical research funds would be "dollars very well spent." Noting that the bond issue would be subject to a statewide voter referendum, he said, "The vast majority of New Yorkers support this."

Researchers at the institute said that stem cell research holds promise for treatment of a wide range of diseases, including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, arthritis, cancer, diabetes and paralysis.

The chief medical officer at North Shore-Long Island Jewish, Dr. Jon R. Cohen, predicted that stem cell research would revolutionize medicine "a thousandfold" more than the discovery of antibiotics did and would eventually help perhaps 70 percent of people suffering from fatal illnesses in New York State. But the scientists and the politicians cautioned against expecting instant cures and panaceas. "This is not for tomorrow," said Dr. David Eidelberg, who specializes in brain research at Feinstein. "It's a long-term investment."

Senator Paterson said, "We don't want to raise hopes that can't be fulfilled." He did predict that the research would be a catalyst "for a lot of good."

Another speaker was Brooke Ellison, who was paralyzed from the neck down in a childhood traffic accident. She went on to graduate from Harvard and, with her mother, wrote the autobiography "Miracles Happen," which was made into a movie directed by Christopher Reeve.

Ms. Ellison, now a Democratic candidate for State Senate in Suffolk County, said refusing to finance stem cell research would be "robbing people of their hope."

Besides the bond issue, the Spitzer-Paterson plan includes banning the cloning of human beings, creating a bioethics review board and appointing a review panel to prevent duplication of stem cell research projects.