Public Still Barred from Sweeping CIRM Review

The California stem cell agency confirmed this morning that the public remains barred from the key sessions of this week's sweeping review of the operations of the $3 billion public enterprise.

In response to a query, Don Gibbons, chief communications officer for CIRM, said,

“The public is only invited to the sessions that are marked as public.”

We raised the question because CIRM removed information this week from its Web site that explicitly said the public was banned. Also removed was information about the location, time and subjects of the closed-door proceedings. The  new announcement, posted just two days ago, additionally said that more time was being allotted for public comment.

The external review of CIRM,  the most comprehensive ever, begins this morning at San Francisco's Marriott Hotel.

We will be providing coverage today of the proceedings that we have access to.