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The Protection of Life

Floor Speech

Date: March 4, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Stem Cell Research Health and Health Care


THE PROTECTION OF LIFE -- (House of Representatives - March 04, 2009)

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Speaker, fellow Members, I'm glad to be on the House floor with you this afternoon discussing this very important topic of adult stem cell therapy. The breakthroughs in technology that have been already discussed, they are exciting, the breakthroughs. And I'm encouraged that science and medical communities are moving toward an ethical approach to treating very sick patients.

This miracle of ethical adult stem cell therapy really hit home with me last month when I met with a Florida cardiologist by the name of Dr. Zannos Grekos, who has been using adult stem cells to treat his very sick cardiopulmonary patients. The doctor has had extraordinary results, and the best part is no embryonic stem cells are used.

Dr. Grekos' groundbreaking procedure involves a simple blood draw which extracts adult stem cells from the patient's own blood. Since it is the patient's own blood, there is no possibility of the body rejecting its own stem cells. The few naturally occurring stem cells in the blood are cultivated into millions of regenocytes. The regenocytes are re-injected back into the patient's heart or blood vessels. They then stimulate tissue re-growth and greater blood flow to the affected area.

This treatment has proven to have miraculous results, and once again, the best part is that embryos are not destroyed and, because regenocytes are extracted from the patient's own blood, they cannot be rejected by the patient's body.

It was reported on CNBC.com a couple of weeks ago that this groundbreaking treatment has successfully treated heart disease, and even helped a patient beat a rare metabolic condition known as Fabry Disease, which would otherwise require a heart transplant

Madam Speaker, the government should not be in the business of funding destruction of embryonic stem cells. We should be in the business, however, of assisting bright, young, innovative doctors and scientists like Dr. Grekos, who have forged a path of ethical adult stem cell therapy.

I, for one, am excited about the future of this therapy, and encourage this body to do all we can to support ethical adult stem cell therapy.

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