Contact: Margie Shealy, Christian Medical Association, 423-844-1047

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 /Standard Newswire/ -- Since the Obama administration has now filed a challenge to the federal court ruling that the administration likely violated the law by funding embryo-destroying research, the Christian Medical Association (CMA, www.cmda.org), a party to the original lawsuit that led to the preliminary injunction against the administration, today stated that politics and greed have driven grants toward embryonic stem cell research -- not a rational strategy to develop cures.

"The Obama administration should prioritize curing patients -- not fighting the court ruling that has stopped their illegal funding of embryonic stem cell research," said CMA CEO Dr. David Stevens. "The irrational insistence on diverting hundreds of millions of federal dollars away from proven sources of cures and toward speculative embryonic stem cell research has been driven by a political calculus and by a tax-dollar-dependent research community -- not by a medical calculus that prioritizes real treatments for real patients.

"Some researchers would have us believe, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, that somehow embryonic stem cells, which are incredibly unstable and form tumors, are actually the path to cures. But consider the source of such claims. The researchers making these claims are indelibly stamped with bias, since they depend government on federal grants to fund their labs and research.

"Consider also that some of the most prominent academic institutions -- Stanford, the University of Wisconsin and Harvard University -- actually hold patents on embryonic stem cell lines. They have focused on embryonic stem cell research not as a purely scientific endeavor, but also as a way to make money. Any medical journal would require them to state this conflict of interest when publishing an article about their research claims, but their allies in Washington never bother to note this self interest and bias, and the media seldom report it.

"Embryonic stem cell research is a long and difficult scientific path that could take decades to produce any useable results. Even in that unlikely event, cures would be too expensive for most patients. That is why savvy private investors are not putting money into speculation on such research.

"The administration should focus our tax dollars on the quickest, surest path to cures. We are already seeing tremendous, proven results with stem cells that do not involve destroying an embryo. There are 1,970 clinical trials with patients underway with adult stem cells, compared to only one with embryonic stem cells, and that one is highly controversial due to patient safety concerns. Over 80 diseases are being treated using adult stem cells, and more are being added. Induced pluripotent stem cells don't involve the destruction of human beings, are readily available, cheaper to use and tissue-match the patients.

A Rasmussen Poll released on Friday August 27, 2010, reveals that "only 33% of U.S. voters believe that taxpayer money should be spent on embryonic stem cell research" and 57% of those polled OPPOSE taxpayer funding for controversial stem cell research that requires the destruction of human embryos.

Dr. Stevens asserted, "Lets put our federal research dollars where we can get real cures real fast. Let's advance ethical stem cell research without using human embryos as lab rats."