Re: 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.
=====
Note: Since Janice's cut and paste of Dr. Gorski's article got sliced up, I figured I'd repost it.
|
