DeWine Cut a Lifeline for Ohio Families

DeWine voted to cut funding for medical technology, stood in way of life-saving stem cell research

CLEVELAND, OH -- Incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine has blocked funding for medical technology and research critical to saving the lives of Ohioans.  He helped draft legislation that cut funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the first time in 36 years and has been a vocal opponent of stem cell research.

"Senator DeWine voted to give billions of dollars in tax cuts to millionaires while slashing funding for medical research," said U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH).  "He limited seniors' access to their prescribed treatments by voting for a bill that prohibited Medicare from negotiating for lower prescription drug prices and left a gap in coverage costing seniors more than $2,000.  Mike DeWine's misplaced priorities cut off a lifeline for Ohioans hoping for a cure."

DeWine served as a conferee on the Labor-HHS Conference Committee which cut 2006 funding for the NIH by $34 million.  DeWine also supported the 2003 GOP prescription drug bill, which prohibited Medicare from negotiating with the drug companies for lower prices.  DeWine has now accepted more than $390,000 in contributions from the drug industry.

U.S. Representative Brown, lead Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, is a cosponsor of a bill that would prevent the federal government from limiting access to local medical equipment providers, and is the lead House sponsor of legislation to eliminate a provision in Medicare that does not permit coverage of wheelchairs outside of the home.  Brown also helped write two key laws intended to safely expedite access to new medical technologies:  one gave the Food and Drug Administration more resources to accelerate the approval of prescription drugs, and the other accelerated approval of medical devices.
 
DeWine has strongly opposed life-saving stem cell research.  According to his website:  "Senator DeWine will oppose any bill that would expand existing policy by allowing the government to pay for studies on embryos in frozen storage at fertility clinics, even if the couples who conceive them certify that they would otherwise discard them. Senator DeWine strongly opposes the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, which passed the House by a vote of 238-194."
 
"Senator DeWine put politics before the life-or-death needs of Ohio families when he voted against funding life-saving stem cell research," stated Brown, who has voted to fully fund stem cell research.  "Republicans like Nancy Reagan and Senate Majority Leader Frist recognize that stem cell research has provided millions of Americans suffering from disease or disability with the hope of a better future."
 
The scientific community recognizes stem cell as having a unique potential to cure disease. "Throughout my lifelong pursuit of better health for my patients, there has never been a more promising breakthrough than that of early stem cell research. While this technology is relatively new, the early results hold tremendous promise for relieving human suffering and finding cures for hundreds of thousands of our citizens who are afflicted by debilitating diseases for which we currently have no good answers." -- E. Grey Diamond, M.D. - Provost - Health Sciences, Emeritus, University of Missouri  -Former President, American College of Cardiology.

08/23/2006 / Permalink / stem cells, (all tags)