A Critique Of Wesley J. Smith's

             Smith, author of the book Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America, wrote a Guest Comment article for the National Review Online website. The article was entitled "Spinning Stem Cells: A Damning Reporting Pattern." In this article Smith takes offence at what he sees as bias in the media regarding embryonic versus adult stem cell research. He believes the media bias exists in favor of embryonic stem cell research, "while in actuality, adult and alternative sources of stem cells have demonstrated brighter prospects." Smith does well in proving his thesis, that the media in fact has a bias against the successes of adult stem cell research, utilizing the actuality of the lack of coverage they receive in the media.
             Smith begins his article citing two major triumphs in adult stem cell research that were overlooked by the main media conglomerates. He feels these successes were overlooked and cast aside by the media because embryonic stem cell studies have not been able to produce similar results. The adult stem cell protocols that were used benefited both Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis patients. Though there are celebrity sufferers of Parkinson's, Smith mentions that none of them spoke out in favor of these successful studies, while they lobby excessively against those who would deny them embryonic stem cells for research. He also believes that had these successes come from embryonic stem cells, rather than adult, the media would have reported on them continuously. The media coverage these studies did receive was minimal, at best, and not even mentioned by the New York Times. There were mentions of embryonic stem cell successes in animal testing, rather than on studies that had actually helped and prolonged the lives of, human beings.
             Smith goes on to tell us about other successful adult stem cell research protocols that have had positive effects on Multiple Sclerosis patients in Canada and a paraplegic in Israel.