AUSTIN, Texas -- The legal battle to get patients access to stem cell therapy in Texas is closer to reality. <\/p>\n
Gov. Greg Abbott signed such legislation into law this week, and itmeans some patients will be heading into uncharted medical territory. <\/p>\n
Come Sept. 1, patients with terminal illnesses or severe chronic diseases will be allowed to access experimental stem cell treatments in Texas. <\/p>\n
MORE |Governor Signs Law to Allow Chronic, Terminally Ill in Texas to Get Stem Cell Treatments <\/p>\n
Currently, mostpatients who want stem cell therapy have to travel outside the United States to do it, and stem cell re-injections are only allowed here within a 24-hour window. <\/p>\n
\"This is going to protect patient health, and provide for the treatments to be done here locally at home,\" saidMike Byrom, the Chief Science Officer at Austin stem cell bankBioEden. <\/p>\n
Byrom said the new lawwill keep patients in the country, and will provide renewed hope for those with serious ailments. <\/p>\n
This hope resulted in anemotional fight this session. <\/p>\n
Texas State Rep. Drew Springer, R-Gainesville, gave an impassioned speech for the legislation as the deadline to read new bills approached, urging lawmakers to keep it from dying. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\"I'll be damned if we don't get the chance tonight to hear the very next bill that opens up the doors of medical science,\" saidSpringer, whose wife is wheelchair-bound.\"It might give somebody like my wife a chance to walk.\" <\/p>\n
But not everyone's convinced this is the right way to go. <\/p>\n
\"We want access for patients to the best drugs, but we think they ought to go through the FDA approval process,\" saidTexans for Cures Chairman David Bales. <\/p>\n
Bales was one of the few people who testified against the bill. While he supports more stem cell research,hearguesthe state should fund it, rather than letting for-profit businesses lead the way. <\/p>\n
\"You run the risk of medical fraud because a lot of these guys, a lot of these patients, are paying a lot of money, to physicians and drug manufacturers who haven't gone through the right process,\"Balessaid. <\/p>\n
Patients who will be participating in stem cell therapy procedures will give up their right to take legal action if something goes wrong. <\/p>\n
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New Law Opens Door for Stem Cell Therapy in Texas - Spectrum News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" AUSTIN, Texas -- The legal battle to get patients access to stem cell therapy in Texas is closer to reality. Gov. Continue reading