Re: Letters to New Zealand Listener
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Posted by Al Gordon on 00:44:56 2007/11/27
In Reply to:
Re: Complete NZ Listener article on LCT posted by Al Gordon
Below is a letter to the editor of the New Zealand Listener that I submitted. I do not know if it will be published. It may be helpful if others write as well, but in their own words and style. Feel free to use these arguments and the references cited.
Make sure you include your full mailing address and telephone numbers. Maximum length should be 300 words.
Al
To: letters@listener.co.nz
Re: Think Pig, New Zealand Listener, November 24, 2007
Living Cell Technologies (LCT), a company founded in New Zealand by families with childhood diabetes and Dr. Robert Elliott , is the first in history to reverse juvenile diabetes without the use of toxic anti-rejection drugs. Yet, the International Xenotransplantation Association (IXA) has consistently worked to delay or stop LCT. We must not only question the science behind IXA's attacks, but also their motives.
IXA's own website [1] lists their corporate sponsors as Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Roche, Wyeth, Novartis, Genzyme and Astellas, the world's manufacturers of anti-rejection drugs for transplant recipients [8]. These corporations earn billions from patients who typically spend US$10,000 per year for life [2] to prevent rejection of transplanted organs. For the first time, LCT has successfully transplanted tissue into humans without toxic anti-rejection drugs, thus sparing patients the increased risk of cancer and bankruptcy [4].
Yet IXA fails to mention this potential conflict of interest despite the ethical requirement to do so.
Surprisingly, Dr. Bernhard Hering, IXA Councilor, has stated in Bio-Medicine [6], "the safe and reliable source of islets are... pigs". While IXA seeks to undermine LCT, it fails to criticize its own member who claims pigs islets are safe and effective. Interestingly, Dr. Hering's research involves the use of lifelong anti-rejection drugs, while LCT's does not.
Also noteworthy is IXA's failure to call for any restriction on the use of pig clotting factor by hundreds of thousands of hemophiliacs. Not only does the absence of a single infection speak to the safety of pig tissue, but what is different about LCT, other than its threat to anti-rejection drug revenue?
IXA president, Richard Pierson III, stated, "there is no evidence that LCT's encapsulation technology is associated with clinical or pre-clinical efficacy". This statement makes no sense in light of two patients receiving sub-clinical doses of islets, and one completely off insulin and one with a dramatic drop in insulin requirement.
New Zealand stands on the brink of a discovery that will eclipse insulin. We must assure that science prevails, and that multinational drug companies do not perpetuate human suffering in defence of their profits.
Alastair Gordon, President
The Islet Foundation
[1] International Xenotransplantation Association - Corporate Sponsors
http://www.transplantation-soc.org/sections.php?s=01
[2] High cost of immunosuppressive drugs doesn't impact patient noncompliance, study finds
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0YUG/is_21_10/ai_n18610713
[3] Immunosuppressive Drugs for Transplant Patients
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9740&page=99
[4] Immunosuppressive drugs and cancer
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TCN-47P92K3-1&_user=10&_coverDate=04%2F01%2F2003&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=463a462135df6bd43a7724e58162e358
[5] Immunosuppresant Drugs
http://www.answers.com/topic/immunosuppressant-drugs?cat=health
[6] Dr. Berhhard Hering MD, IXA Councilor
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1399-3089.2006.00347.x
[7] Dr. Bernhard Hering (IXA Councilor) calls for clinical trials using pig islets
http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Diabetes-cure-can-be-achieved-using-pig-islets-7909-1/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[8] The corporate sponsors of IXA are:
Novartis
Genzyme
Roche
Astellas
Wyeth
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Now look at who manufacturers anti-rejection drugs!
MANUFACTURERS OF ANTI-REJECTION DRUGS - 20071124
Drug - Manufacturer
Neoral - Novartis
Sandimmune - Novartis
SangCya - Genzyme ***
Simulect - Novartis
Zenapax - Roche
Prograf - Astellas
CellCept - Roche
Rapamune - Wyeth
Belatacept - Bristol-Myers Squibb (in clinical trial *)
RATG, Thymoglobulin - Genzyme Corporation (in clinical trial **)
Imuran - Prometheus Labs
* http://ctr.bms.com/ctd/InitTrialDetailAction.do?pnum=IM103-010
** http://clinicaltrial.gov/ct2/show/NCT00076570?term=thymocyte
*** http://www.transplantweek.org/members/Vol4/News/043201.htm
http://cancernews.mediwire.com/main/Default.aspx?P=Content&ArticleID=111097
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