The Food and Drug Administration has approved a clinical trial that will study the effects of stem cell therapy for the treatment of persons suffering from spinal cord injuries. The company that will be conducting the study is Geron Corporation, a biotech company based in Menlo Park, California.

The approval for the study, which will be the world’s first study of the stem cell treatment for spinal cord injuries marks a historic moment in the history of what has been one of the most debated and controversial medical topics in recent years. The debate over the ethics of stem cell research has been a campaign issue in the 2004 elections, and has figured although not quite so prominently, in the 2008 elections too. President Obama had promised to move ahead on approving federal funding for stem cell research. The announcement by the FDA overlap with the inauguration of the new president, but that is merely a coincidence, the agency says. In fact, funding for the study will come from money released during the previous administration.

Stem cell research has been controversial for years now, with advocates worrying that precious time is being lost as governments dither over approving new wave technology that has important portents for future generations. Opponents regard stem cell harvesting as anti-religion because it involves the destruction of human embryos. Under President Bush, funding for stem cell research was limited, and federal funding was disallowed, a move that had stem cell proponents distressed. President Obama’s advisors had suggested that they might overturn Bush’s decisions regarding stem cell research, but since then, he has suggested that he might defer the decision to Congress.

The news of the trial has been received with cheer in several quarters. The president of the Dana and Christopher Reeve Foundation, which provides funding for stem cell research and tests new therapies for spinal cord injury treatment has called the news “an exciting first step.”

Subjects in the study will be paraplegics, about 8 to 10 in number. They will be given a single dose injection within a few days after their spinal cord injury. The study is aimed more at gauging the safety of the therapy than making any sudden and miraculous breakthroughs in the industry. Nobody is expecting that there will be significant developments soon, but the first step has been taken. and it has great possibilities for changing the lives of spinal cord injury patients everywhere.

Researchers have tried in vain to develop a complete cure for spinal cord injuries including paraplegia and quadriplegia, but with little success. Stem cell therapy has shown extremely promising results in animal studies, and researchers are hoping that human testing will yield the same results. For Orange County spinal cord injury lawyers who constantly see the suffering of the patients they represent, news of the trial is certainly reason to smile!

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of spinal cord injuries. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

You could forgive Richard Rodriguez if he was angry and vengeful – he has every reason to be.

Last Thursday, a stray bullet that was fired from the gun of an armed robber injured Richard’s 10-year-old son, Christopher, a bright, enthusiastic young boy with a passion for music and sports. Christopher at the time was practicing the piano at Harmony Road Music School on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, California. The gas station across the street was being robbed and the robber fired a .40 caliber bullet at the attendant. The bullet missed and instead traveled across the street and smashed through Christopher’s spinal cord, pierced his abdomen and ended up lodged in his right side.

Christopher will most likely to be paralyzed and will need wheelchair support for the rest of his life. His kidneys, spleen, bowel and bladder were all injured. Doctors have decided to let the bullet remain because of the danger to his life if they attempt to remove it.

The robber, Jared Adam, has been arrested for attempted murder, robbery, evading police and being in possession of a firearm. He fled the scene after the shooting and was arrested when he crashed into two cars.

For the Rodriguezs’, life has now posed new challenges, and they must contemplate things they never imagined a few days ago. Their van will have to be made wheelchair accessible, and they will have to move into a new single-story house from their present two-storied home. Friends are already pitching in and Christopher’s school friends too have raised over $30,000 for his treatment and new expenses.

Most importantly, they will have to help their child, who at present remains unaware of the extent of his injuries, deal with his new challenges, and life as a paraplegic.

If you have been the victim of a spinal-cord injury brought on by an accident or an attack, you need the help of an experienced personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.