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Chief Scientific Officer Resigns from S.F.-Based State Stem Cell Agency
6/26/2009
Posted by Consumer Watchdog
The chief scientific officer at California's stem-cell agency has announced that she will step down from her position in a little over a month. Marie Csete, who had been at the San Francisco-based California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) for slightly more than a year, has so far offered no specific reasons for leaving the agency,...
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Reaction To CIRM Science Boss Resignation
6/25/2009
Posted by Consumer Watchdog
Marie Csete. The resignation of the top science officer at California's stem cell research funding agency, some say, is exposing deeper management problems at the San Francisco-based agency. (Read our Wednesday story here.) It should be noted that at our Bay Area Biotech Forum this morning, panelists didn't mention the departure of Marie Csete...
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Bob Klein To Leave CIRM Chairman Job
6/12/2009
Posted by Consumer Watchdog
Bob Klein, the architect of California’s $3 billion stem cell research funding program, will not seek a new term as chairman of the agency. Klein’s six-year term expires at the end of 2010. Klein made the announcement at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s finance subcommittee meeting today, reported the...
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What Obama's Support for Stem Cell Research Means for California
5/20/2009
Posted by Consumer Watchdog
The president has lifted the Bush restrictions on embryonic stem cell on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research mean for the funding. What does that mean for an oft-criticized state agency with $3 billion in grants to give out? BURLINGAME, CA -- California provides more funding for stem cell research than the other 49 states combined. So...
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Consumer Class-Action Suits Are On Trial In California
5/18/2009
Posted by Consumer Watchdog
A far-reaching ruling is expected in a case that could apply limits in 2004's Proposition 64 to ads for cigarettes. San Francisco, CA -- Consumer class-action lawsuits in California, which have encountered mounting skepticism from courts, face a major test in a tobacco case to be decided Monday by the state Supreme Court. The court will determine...
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Budget Measures' Backers Pay Up To Avoid Added Taxes
5/8/2009
Posted by Consumer Watchdog
Alcohol, tobacco and oil firms, sports teams and studios could bear a larger fiscal burden if voters say no on May 19. SACRAMENTO, CA -- The uphill fight for a slate of budget measures on the May 19 ballot is being financed largely by alcohol and tobacco firms, oil companies, sports teams and Hollywood studios that could be hit by higher taxes if...
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State Stem Cell Program Poised To Prosper
3/12/2009
Posted by Consumer Watchdog
John M. Simpson is the director of Consumer Watchdog's Stem Cell Oversight and Accountability Project. E-mail him at John@consumerwatchdog.org. --------------- President Barack Obama's lifting of federal restrictions on stem cell research is a victory for science over dogma, but as we've seen with California's $6 billion stem cell program, science...
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California's Stem Cell Agency Is Running Out Of Cash
3/9/2009
Posted by Consumer Watchdog
By many measures, the $3 billion California stem cell agency is a remarkable success. Only four years old, it is now the largest funding source in the world for human embryonic stem cell research. It crushed its foes in a legal battle that went all the way to the California State Supreme Court. It pioneered standards for hESC research in the...
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Consumer Lawyers Fighting Against Legal Tide
3/2/2009
Posted by Consumer Watchdog
California Supreme Court Will Decide Key Proposition 64 Case on Class Action Consumer Suits SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- If consumer attorneys are feeling beleaguered these days, they have good reason. Last month, the California Supreme Court limited their ability to sue companies over objectionable fine print in service contracts a ruling that eight...
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CA's Stem-Cell Agency Still Considers Issuing $400M in Debt Despite Deal to Balance Budget
2/23/2009
Posted by Consumer Watchdog
California's stem-cell agency will stick to its plan of incurring debt by selling bonds to private investors despite an agreement hashed out by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislative leaders aimed at plugging a $42 billion shortfall over 17 months in the state's budget, an official for the agency said last week. "It will actually...
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