Prop. 14 in the Media: Supporters Plugging Away with Opinion Pieces

The ballot measure to rescue the California stem cell agency with $5.5 billion drew a few more opinion articles of support online this weekend as the opposition to Proposition 14 continued to be all but invisible. 

Supporters, however, are not likely to rest easy during the next two days. As the sponsor of the measure, Palo Alto real estate developer Robert Klein, has remarked, the impact of Covid-19 on voters, with all its economic and emotional ramifications, is the biggest question mark involving approval of Proposition 14.

The campaign has attracted little news coverage in the media with the exception of one-off pieces. No polls have been taken on the proposal, which would send the state stem cell agency into new areas that go well beyond the direction of the agency since 2004, when it was created. The agency was provided with $3 billion at the time but is scheduled to begin closing its doors this winter as the funds run out.

Here is a rundown on articles by supporters that have appeared in recent days.

Don Reed, a patient advocate and longtime supporter of the agency, continued with a parade of items on his blog, Stem Cell Battles. The most recent focused on hearing loss work at Stanford by Alan Cheng, who has received $4.5 million from the stem cell agency, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

Reed quoted Cheng as saying, 

“We see regrowth of hair cells in the mouse balance organs — and the balance function appears to improve, according to how many hair cells come back.” 

Writing on online on IVN was Alysia Vaccaro, who said, 

"In 2012, when my daughter Evangelina, “Evie,” was just six weeks old, she was diagnosed with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). More commonly known as “bubble baby” disease, the rare genetic disorder left her at risk of death from any infection, even a diaper rash or the common cold. Born alongside a healthy twin, we were told Evie would likely not make it to her second birthday.

"However, thanks to Proposition 71 in 2004, California voter’s initial investment in stem cell research and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a groundbreaking treatment was discovered at the University of California Los Angeles that saved my daughter’s life and 49 other babies born with the same rare disease – giving them all functioning immune systems and a second chance to live a long, healthy life."

Larry Goldstein, a UC San Diego researcher who has received $21.5 million from CIRM, wrote on the Times of San Diego, 

"A yes vote on Proposition 14 is crucial to continue the pace of medical research and our state’s journey to save lives. For millions of Californians who live with a chronic disease or condition, and who need new therapies, this may be their last hope.....There is a glaring funding gap between early lab work and late-stage clinical trials — known as “The Valley of Death” — that often ends promising stem cell research."

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​Read all about California's stem cell agency, including Proposition 14,  in David Jensen's new book. Download it from Amazon:  California's Great Stem Cell Experiment: Inside a $3 Billion Search for Stem Cell Cures. Click here for more information on the author.