Posted on 05/24/2005 5:56:39 PM PDT by neverdem
A drug developed by Genentech significantly improved the eyesight of people with a condition that is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, the company said yesterday.
The results represent the first time that a drug for the disease - age-related macular degeneration - has been able to improve vision, not just preserve it, in a large clinical trial. It thus represents a potentially big advance.
"If this pans out, it would be a significant advantage," said Dr. Julia A. Haller, a professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University who was involved in the trial and has occasionally consulted for Genentech. "People want to be able to read and drive; they don't want to just hold on to moderate vision loss."
There are two drugs already approved to treat macular degeneration, Visudyne, from QLT and Novartis; and Macugen, from Eyetech Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer. Both drugs slow the deterioration of eyesight but do not generally improve it.
Shares of Eyetech fell 30 percent after hours, after Genentech's announcement at the close of regular trading. Shares of Genentech rose to $79.02 in after-hours trading after closing the regular session at $76.60, up 70 cents.
The results continue a hot streak for Genentech, which has...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Are you asking if I would be willing to take the heart of another (medically-determined "braindead") baby to save the life of my own child??
Yes.
And her parents are okay to let her go and are not being coerced?
Yes.
(Altho disputable because of brain recovery potential in young patients, I'm sure you'll say she's been determined by caretakers to have no foreseeable future as a functional being, independent of extraordinary life support...?)
Yes. Declared dead. They will be turning off the machines in 10 minutes, in fifteen minutes it will be too late for your baby.
Come on! You've already slept on it and had a day to think about it!
Do you let nature take it's course, is it God's will your baby dies too?
This is life or death...
And I am busy today.
Get back to work and give me some time, Bud.
No time limits.
: P
I know....more than one word
Your baby died. Thank you for playing.
Don't worry, you can always make more...
"They will be turning off the machines in 10 minutes..."
No, they would be giving her little heart to someone who didn't have to think about it...
Consider this:
Baby girl’s right to life treatment has been relinquished by her parents; there are no other guardians allowed to make a life-prolonging/sustaining attempt. (ie. adoption w/intent to save her life)
Baby girl was conceived as an individual with promise; not with the intention of disposal due to other successful pregnancy or with intention of harvesting her heart.
You do see that I know where you were going with this....
Want more?
You're not getting off that easy.....and I didn't know it was a boy. hmmmmmmmm.
Stick around. You may learn something.
PS The baby's fine....unless you pulled the plug, and knowing how you felt about Terri S., I rather doubt that.
Put me on the list, please.
Thanx.
I didn't get a vote in the plug pulling.
You got a vote in saving your baby, and maybe salvaging some good from a tragic death.
Instead of choosing life, you chose death for your own flesh and blood.
Listen...imagine this:
Miraculously, there are other “hearts” donated by living babies, who can somehow painlessly survive the process required to share their gift, without moral dilemma, without imminent death.....Hearts that transplant more easily and more successfully, hearts that are abundant in supply, hearts that in essence are more promising in effectual treatment for those who suffer or are dying.....Hearts on the cutting edge of healing many “pulmonary ailments,” if only the researchers involved could get government funding.
But why fund these projects when a baby girl can serve this purpose by simply dying? Why not take a chance on a transplant from a dying individual, who will die anyway? Why not take the heart that is controversial, even though the chances of transplant rejection are greater, with No documented promises of anything?
Now you've totally lost me.
"Instead of choosing life, you chose death for your own flesh and blood."
Don't jump to conclusions. You try to make me sound like an unloving parent because I value all life.
Furthermore, you must remember I would not be determining if a donor should die as you suggested initially; I would be determining whether I would accept the surgically-removed living heart of a baby whose parents chose death.
That being said, this in reality would be a very difficult decision. However, I can assure you it would be based on all alternatives available. And, of course, my selfish love for my child...
Doesn't make embryonic stem cells the answer. Just makes the alternatives and their research more appealling and more pressing.
I don't think we're on the same page, but it looks like we're reading the same chapter...
"Now you've totally lost me."
I hear that a lot lately...
post #56 was just an analogy of sorts....sorry if it lost ya
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