Frozen babies bombed due to enormous societal backlash cygs received, not technology...
Please do, once again (if you ever bothered earlier, that is) take a look at the people you're dealing with:
North Texas Skeptics
Healthy Skepticism
By Tim Gorski, M.D.
"Pregnancy Suspension" Is Science Fiction
In late January of 1996, material was posted on the Internet and many physicians and health care
facilities received a promotional mailing of a similar nature from a Houston company called Cryogenics
Solutions, Inc. (CSI). Included in the mailing was a "fact sheet" on a new medical service being offered
by the firm, and a brochure intended for patients.
These materials proposed that CSI would cryopreserve the tissues obtained from elective abortions and
"maintain its vital potential in cryostorage indefinitely" with the idea of later being "able to re-animate [it,
and] . . . regenerate embryogenesis and re-implant the embryo for gestation and birth."
While admitting that the technology to accomplish such an astounding feat (on tissues from 10-11 week
pregnancies, which are typically thoroughly disrupted) does not now exist, the mailing named Fuller
Bazer, Ph.D., Director of the Albert B. Alkek Institute of Biosciences and Technology at Texas A&M
University, as "leading the CSI research effort . . . backed up by a highly qualified team of research
scientists."
Meanwhile, the brochure intended for patients only referred to "expanding, improving, refining, and finally
perfecting re-implantation technology," as if it already existed in some form. "In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
embryos are regularly frozen for future implantation," the company's literature blithely states, as if this
were at all comparable to reconstituting the disrupted tissues obtained with a first trimester pregnancy
termination and restoring them to the status of an intact intrauterine pregnancy.
Malcolm Skolnick, Ph.D., J.D., Director of the Office of Technology Management of the University of
Texas Health Science Center at Houston, who is also named in CSI's "fact sheet" as "helping [to] direct
[research] activities," was unaware that the company had initiated promotional efforts. Skolnick also
denied that he had given CSI permission to use his name and said that his role had been limited to
some discussions with representatives of the firm concerning its possible financial support of basic
cryogenic research. He also agreed that the technology suggested by the company was not at all likely
to be feasible within the lifetime, let alone the reproductive lifetime, of any of the company's prospective
clients. "It's four to eight orders of magnitude beyond" current technology, said Skolnick.
Dr. Fuller Bazer was also taken by surprise on learning of CSI's claims. He denied that he was
associated in any way with the sort of research effort mentioned in the company's literature. An attorney
for Texas A&M subsequently wrote to demand that CSI cease using Dr. Bazer's name and that of the
university in its materials.
It is questionable, to say the least, as to what CSI is actually up to, as it seems doubtful that any
intelligent and informed person could seriously offer "pregnancy suspension" services. The company
address which appears in the promotional materials sent out also happens to be a mail drop. But
perhaps one clue is offered by a statement in CSI's "fact sheet" which asserts that "anti-abortion
advocates . . . would consider withdrawing active opposition to those clinics and physicians offering
cryogenic suspension."
Perhaps this has something to do with the unaccountable focus on women who are deliberately seeking
to terminate their pregnancies, rather than on more likely candidates for "pregnancy suspension" such
as women suffering the involuntary loss of desired pregnancies. It wouldn't be the first time that a
mischievous prank was perpetrated for the purpose of muddying the waters of the abortion rights
controversy.
This information is provided by the Dallas/Fort Worth Council Against Health Fraud. For further
information, or to report instances of suspected quackery and health fraud, please contact the Council's
President, Tim Gorski, M.D., at (817) 792-2000 or write P.O.B. 202577, Arlington, TX 76006.
utdallas.edu;
Don't miss this one, either:
Fetus freezing firm spawns controversy
Darrin Schlegel Houston Business Journal
03/07/96
Houston Business Journal
(Copyright 1996)
A Houston company is touting a new abortion option that entails freezing an
aborted fetus for implantation at a more suitable time.
Under the process, fetal tissue can be aborted, cryopreserved and stored for
10 years at a cost of $356, claim officials with Cryogenic Solutions Inc.
There's only one hitch: The company has the technology to freeze the fetus,
but not to thaw and reanimate it.
"We know how to cryopreserve the tissue," contends Dell Gibson, the
company's vice president. "The problem is: How do we turn that tissue into a
living baby on the playground?"
Gibson, who says the firm has already begun storing tissue in its bank, may
be understating the company's problems.
Since Cryogenic Solutions announced plans to sell stock late last year,
criticism about the company's service has come from both the anti-abortion
and scientific communities.
"They're aborting babies and charging women money without any guarantee
that they can reanimate them," claims Dee Doughty, a spokeswoman for
Life Advocates in Houston.
Literature distributed by the company acknowledges that reanimation is not
yet a reality. But the same literature also assures customers that
researchers are confident they can eventually improve and refine technology
so that reimplantation and reanimation of the fetus can occur, either in the
original donor or an adoptive or surrogate mother.
The procedure is labeled an "alternative" to abortion. Physicians, however,
say that label is misleading.
"I don't think they can even represent to (women) that it's anything less than
final abortion," says Dr. John Buster, director of reproductive endocrinology
at Baylor College of Medicine.
In vitro fertilization experts have long known that embryonic cells frozen
before implantation on the uterus can be stored, thawed and implanted
successfully, Buster says. But there is only a six-day window after
conception for that to occur, he adds.
"After that, it has never been done successfully," Buster says.
Cryogenic Solutions is offering to extract cells from women in their 10th to
11th week of pregnancy _ long after the cells have implanted on the uterus.
Baylor's Buster says no research to date has proven that procedure can
work.
"But the thing that makes this intriguing to businesspeople is that you can't
prove that it can't be done; you just can't prove that it can be done," Buster
says.
Cryogenic Solutions believes it can be done _ and the company is willing
to spend money to prove the concept is feasible, Gibson says.
He says the firm has offered to fund research projects at several medical
schools, including Baylor, but has yet to find a willing participant.
Faculty at Houston's other medical school, The University of Texas-Houston
Health Science Center, declined to be interviewed on the subject, even
though Dr. Malcolm Skolnick, a professor at the school, is listed as a
director of Cryogenic Solutions .
Company officials also appear to be keeping a low profile. Chief Executive
Officer Charles Boyd refused to be photographed for this article, and Gibson
says the company's address is off limits to anyone except clients and
employees.
"We don't want people ambushing us with interviews like 'A Current Affair' (a
tabloid TV show)," says Gibson. "We just want to go about our business."
The firm, now traded over-the-counter on the Nasdaq Stock Market's bulletin
board, even seems to be distancing itself from its founder, Howard Turney.
The owner of a Houston company called El Dorado Rejuvenation & Longevity
Institute, Turney was recently interviewed by The Wall Street Journal
wearing nothing but a bathing suit. The 64-year-old Turney, whose company
distributes a human growth hormone out of Mexico, was attempting to show
the reporter that the hormone's alleged "anti-aging" therapy works.
In addition to Cryogenic Solutions and El Dorado, Turney has founded and
promoted a number of other businesses, including a hair salon featuring
stylists in hot pants.
Gibson, who has also started up numerous business ventures, says Turney
still owns stock in Cryogenic Solutions but plays no other role.
"He's never had any operational responsibility," Gibson says.
Despite the swirling controversy, Gibson is confident the company will
weather the storm. In an attempt to ward off negative publicity, the company
has issued a companion press release with its fact sheet that clearly states
where Cryogenic Solutions stands on the issue of abortion.
"Should an unwanted pregnancy occur," the press release states, "we
advocate birth. In those instances where the mother is unsuited for
motherhood, we advocate adoption. We condemn abortion as a means of
birth control.
"However, we recognize that in spite of the most sincere and vigorous efforts
of the anti-abortion advocates, over one and a half million women a year have
abortions. . . . Our goal is to see deserving, caring parents lovingly raising
happy, healthy babies that would otherwise be ashes."
Call Dr Gorski. I'm sure you'll find him interesting. |
