24 June 2013

Questionable Hansen Foundation spending exposed - Vancouver Sun

Read the Vancouver Sun Article -
Behind the Rick Hansen Foundation
I read the article with great sadness.

Even though many of us knew that there was waste, I don't think any of us imagined the extent of it.

I wish that I could feel content that our position was vindicated; that we weren't just angry cripples who were pissed off at Rick Hansen because we were paralysed, but saddened is the only emotion in my heart. Not just by the waste of money, but also because this kind of scandalous spending kills hope.

We spent a lot of time asking for transparency on cure funding, and I guess when they couldn't do that, alarm bells did sound in many of our heads. Was it because they simply weren't spending on a cure for chronic spinal cord injury, or was it just sheer arrogance on their part by refusing to share data they felt we had no right to ask for? We'll never know for sure, but this article clearly makes it look like it was both.

Still, we took the high road and didn't attack Hansen personally, we kept our eyes on the ball about chronic cure spending and regeneration. Our goal was not to discredit RHF or void Rick Hansen's contributions, but to make make sure that money was actually being spent on "a world without paralysis after spinal cord injury".

Even so, we were still castigated. We were told that we would hurt RHF's ability to raise donations and now ironically, it is RHF by their own hand which will kill off donations and make us suffer through a loss of research dollars for all organisations as stories like this hurt everyone. It is Rick Hansen, who had done so much, who has discredited himself and if he refuses to change will end voiding his own legacy.

Now it will be our job to rekindle hope. To demand a change of leadership. To demand money be spent on measurable outcomes, not "raising awareness". To demand more transparency and community involvement.

I hope that those who read this article don't come away cynical but rather become involved in demanding change from all organisations that raise funds in our name.

More on this story in the very near future.

88 comments:

  1. And what about those who solicit from sci'd? In our name? I have never seen you question Dr. CareCure, Is it because you need his web site?

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    1. Maybe he could post in the Dr. Carecure comment section of your website. Now where exactly is YOUR website Bob? What's the link?

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    2. There is no link. He doesn't have a website. He trolls here just to be a pest and divert attention away from everything that a leader like Dennis posts. He's subversive to the cure cause here.

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    3. He's only into ESC, basketball team building at Rutgers, and whining about cord cells, lithium and methylprednisolone shots. What a boring diversion from the Hansen issue where donations and millions of government money has been mishandled. Stay on it Dennis. Don't get sidetracked be the usual internet silliness. Keep your eye on the ball.

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    4. We should have had millions going into chronic spinal cord injury labs. I thought he was talking about cure and a world without paralysis. It was never really disclosed that the labs were not being funded for a chronic cure. Thanks for letting us know David Baines. I don't see the need for anymore research into depression or my uti's. It's time to look seriously into sci recovery for the millions that already have SCI and want some regeneration and recovery.

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  2. Bob: You run hot and cold. You praise me and then you criticise. No one knos what you are in favour of and what you are against.
    I'm dealing with probably the biggest sci org in the world and you accuse me of being in cahoots with dr. Young. I will tell you good things about this man and when he has a budget of RHf's size and no spending on chronic cure, we'll deal with him.
    For now, my advice to you is to keep your eye on the ball. You tend to swing at a lot of balls which is the reason that you often strike out.
    Keep your eye safely on the ball.

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    1. He can't keep his eye on the ball. He doesn't know the difference between a basketball and baseball. Here we're trying to deal with the largest SCI org in the world to get us the much needed money for research that's been wasted by Hansen and this stooge is bitching about where you put out the information? WHO THE F*** CARES ABOUT THAT?

      Why the f*** should stemcellsandatombombs drop his last 2 years of work just to question some carnival barker that claims to cure Chinese people? Jeeesusss!

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    2. The job isn't done yet. We need to find out now what the Canadian government is going to do about it now that David Baines has exposed the mismanagement of their funds. We will need lots more exposure and pressure to change this situation.

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    3. You're right. If the pressure doesn't stay on, the government will ignore the information and Rick will do nothing to change the expenditures of that org. If fact, he was questioned in public (the tape is on youtube)...His response to the lady asking questions was to tell her to go raise money for a cure herself. She was ignored entirely. It's a sad thing for nobody to have to answer to the millions of dollars that have been wasted.

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    4. Now it will be our job to rekindle hope. To demand a change of leadership. To demand money be spent on measurable outcomes, not "raising awareness". To demand more transparency and community involvement. We have to get this done!!!

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    5. I wish the Canadian government had a better mechanism to keep track of the tax payers money. Once they give the money away, there doesn't seem to be any recourse built into the system to stop the abuses.

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    6. We need everyone to speak up to the authorities and find out why a cure isn't being funded for everyone suffering chronic SCI. If research isn't being funded, then RHF shouldn't be given huge sums of money for it.

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    7. Huge sums of money are also donated to orgs that just work on acute injury within 48 hours like Miami Project and the Reeve Foundation. At least know what you're donating money to. If you want to fund awareness and curb cutouts then line Ricks pocket with 500k a year. David Baines disclosed that. It's too bad that the transparency wasn't there.

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    8. Please let us know who to contact to get the changes made and government spending to go for actual research for the chronically paralyzed people. I know it won't be easy and won't happen tomorrow. It will be a process, but I'll do anything I can to help get money flowing into the chronic research we need.

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  3. Were you satisfied with how he spent the money we donated to him?

    Are you looking for another treatment with a track record like methylprednisolone that after further review lacks evidence of efficacy and warnings were placed against it's use. And this is from the guy who claims he can fix us so no one will know that you had a sci and he could do this in a few years, them few years ran out long ago.

    But getting back to the money-How could he spend it training investigators if he had none, how could he spent it applying to the fda when he couldn't until he had results from china.

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    1. Why did you donate money to him? Are you really that stupid????

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    2. Yep, he's a disgruntled customer.

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    3. No, he said he mad when doctor not cure him. He gave out his money and it is all gone. Many say the shots will help but it is not right. I will wait for shots and see if they work on people some later. I not lose my money if maybe not work.

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    4. I read this. They try to see if shots and body working fix spine damage. They not know. It is a test. The shots not for sale now. many try to fix. no luck but happy day in lots years from now. money

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    5. money to test shot and he not get one. Not for sale now. Some buy cells at more hospital is China. Not come to China to buy cells. wait for fix to spine. Spines not fix yet. more test to see.

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    6. You should have told Bob the troll a long time ago. He spent his wad on a clinical trial and now he wants his money back. Where can he write to get his money back? Is there a clinical trial registration desk that he can inquire to? Please help Bob.

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    7. I think he's afraid he's going to die from a methylprednisolone shot. It didn't kill him but the rest of us would like to. It was dropped from the protocol and is a non-issue. The troll just wants to beat the bones of a dead horse. He doesn't have anything else to do.

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    8. So, if he was dumb enough to give money to a Dr. Carecure to fix a spinal cord in 100 years then he deserves to be broke. How stupid can you get? Rick Hansen has millions that's been squandered in the cure name. I hope he rots and the authorities go after him.

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    9. Why does he think that stemcellsandatombombs should care that he donated his money to Dr. Young? He's got more important things to worry about than where Bob donates his money. Besides, clinical trials are supposed to be free. If something is worth it's salt, then the trials are paid for by the biotech. Use your brain there Bob. If not, I'll gladly sell you the Brooklyn bridge.

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    10. He'll give you a rubber check.

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    11. Just have brains enough not to give your money away to foreign trials that haven't had proper animal studies done nor any scientific data published. It's the internet. Anyone can claim miracle cures and gloat. The difference is in knowing real from hyped hope.

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    12. The bigger issue here is the money gathered up to supposedly cure people from around the world and the money isn't being driven into research for everyone that has been waiting for years. As the Baines article says...look what all those millions of dollars went for over the years. It's a travesty. We needed a David Baines article and investigation long ago on this.

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    13. Sheer disappointment in Health Canada. Where is their participation in the debacle? Did the citizens really believe that Rick was funding research towards a cure? What a huge mess! Didn't someone ask any researchers if they were getting funds for paralysis cure? Pretty buildings with empty promises and parking lots. I could just scream!

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  4. All I can say is thank god the stem cell institute bond issue failed and that corzine is not the governor anymore as wise though of that as his cash cow

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    1. It's not great that you give him all the publicity at this website by all your ragging instead of commenting on the articles that are actually posted here to discuss then. STFU.

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    2. wise as cash cow? What it means in Chinese please?

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    3. The Baines article was a terrific help in exposing the RHF/RHI. It had nothing to do with a stem cell bond issue or Corzine governor or NJ. This is about Canada.

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    4. Thanks for posting the Vancouver article! I appreciate knowing that a reporter did check into the situation. I'm also sad that it turns out that millions of dollars have been wasted.

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  5. Dennis, as long as you rely on CareCure as a platform to get your message out it would be expected you be rather docile in any criticism of Dr CareCure.
    That's not good

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    1. Maybe then YOU shouldn't use this Rick Hansen comment section for YOUR platform. That's not good. Dennis wasn't posting this Hansen article here for you to use it for a Carecure soapbox anyway.

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    2. He is mad and says he donated his money to an internet guy that promised to cure him or something. These stem cells are injected into spinal cord patients in a lot of different countries. They part a fool and his money really fast. They don't cure anybody yet.

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    3. My point was actually that Bob should do his own bitching at carecure instead of trying to solicit others to do his destroy mission. If Bob has something to say, then he ought to damn well do it himself. Carrying on about another website is just plain stupid anyway. Bob needs his how website to bitch and complain in. It's too damn bad if he donated his money for a clinical trial that a biotech should have been funding in the first place. He's an idiot. That's my point. He doesn't need a platform. He needs a brain replacement.

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    4. Bob, it's not good to get himself banned for behaving like you did either. What's he to do? Maybe post at your non-existent website?

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    5. Maybe Bob should think about the consequences of his actions and follow a true leader. Being a lone rebel without a cause makes one a troll on the internet.

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    6. Bob trolls the internet sites related to SCI cure so he can post comments about his beloved friend Wise Young which is his own platform. No one is interested in it, but Bob shoves it down everyone's throat when we're trying to talk about RHF/RHI information or California funding issues. Wish he'd troll somewhere else...

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    7. I'm not interested in Rutgers handicap basketball for my kid nor steroid shots that aren't protocol anyway. I don't send money to anyone doing foreign trials or stem cell clinics. What I am interested in is the lack of funds going into the chronic SCI labs that can help get us out of these chairs. I don't want to play ball and roll around the world talking awareness stuff. I want research funded so I can walk, pee and poop normally again.

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  6. http://spinalcordresearchandadvocacy.wordpress.com/2013/07/03/a-second-glance-at-hero-worshipping/

    Another blogger reported this week on hype created over the internet with a “cure” that’s been sensationalized in a press release from a foreign country. It’s not uncommon for cures to crop up all over the world and people begin chasing them in desperation. Many are dangerous, some have had no relevant animal lab experiments done or peer reviewed and published in medical or science journals. Many haven’t been given authority through a governing medical body.

    Guess who?

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    1. You take the comment out of context in the article. Supposed cures are posted around the internet every day by the media if you hadn't noticed.

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    2. Well, he knows that or he wouldn't be here crying about money he gave away to have some type of stem cell tested in humans. Maybe he should ask for a refund since it's taking so long to get the tests done. You'd think the poor sap wouldn't have given his money away if he expected some kind of written guarantee that the trial would result in a cure. You just can't fix stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    3. I wonder if he sent money to StemCells Inc., Neuralstem, Geron and all the rest for the human trials that are underway there too! The results aren't in on those trials either. They're not testing cord cells and lithium but rather neural cells in particular. He wanted this concoction tested or he wouldn't have spent his money in the first place. He's whining about nothing. No results are in from any of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the meantime, the issue here is the Hansen Foundation and the squandering of millions that could have been used to cure spinal cord injury. Go get them Dennis. We need research funded in the worst way.

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    4. He's probably sending his money to every outfit known to man that mentions the words "clinical trial". Lots of stuff goes into trials and never makes it through the phases or the hospital shelves. I can't imagine why he gives his money away like that and then posts his complaints in a Rick Hansen thread. It's kinda crazy if you ask me.

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  7. Bob the nutjob running his personal vendetta campaign in the comment section all by himself. In the meantime he's clueless about 99% of what's going on in the paralysis community. For now, my advice to you is to keep your eye on the ball. You tend to swing at a lot of balls which is the reason that you strike out. Sober up Bob.

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  8. Bob loves the Hansen Foundation and hopes to use the diversion to help his buddy Rick Hansen. Good job Bob. You and Rick make a good team. Way to keep the heat off! You both should be benched from striking out. David Baines rats out the biggest phoney rip-off artist of SCI research money in the world and you have your head up your ass and can't even comprehend the article or what's happened. What a blubbering fool!

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  9. Why does Bob only troll around in the comment section of this internet site? Why not post your love fest with Dr. Young on carecure? Why do you insist and rely on using the stemcellsandatombombs comment section as YOUR media platform. Man up and take responsibility instead of slithering around the edges of the internet. That is what is not good. Are you too chicken? peck...peck...peck...peck. If you want to criticize, then go after Dr. Carecure yourself and stop bothering everyone else with your hatred!

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  10. Wake up. Don't assume most people are behind Dr. Carecure anymore. Sorry but getting mad at me ain't gonna make cord blood and lithium any better.

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    1. You're the only one with any interest in this Dr. Carecure fellow. That's why you can't post a comment about Rick Hansen. You wouldn't know Rick Hansen and what he's about if he came up and slugged you in the face. You're the one that's sleeping here man!

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    2. There is no cure yet. Haven't you figured that much out yet?

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    3. Bob, you're fast asleep. Check out the Hansen article that Dennis so graciously posted for your enlightenment. You'll never learn a thing if you don't bother to read and learn anything from anyone but yourself. You're not your own best teacher.

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    4. He may be the worlds worst teacher, but he IS the worlds best whiner. He's always posting and crying here about that internet forum and Dr. Young. Dennis doesn't owe him anything. For gawds sake stop blubbering on this internet site and go make your own troll Bob.

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    5. I already know cord blood and lithium aint gonna cure me. I assume anything I want. I don't want to mess with anybody's behind or getting behind some Dr. Caregood. I hate when Dr people get behind me. They do bad things with those gloves.

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    6. Nobody assumes anything about Dr. Carecure and his cord cell/lithium stuff. What makes me mad is coming to this website and reading about it. (This isn't the carecure forum). If I want to read about that rubbish I'd go there to read it. I wanted to read and hear about strategies to take care of the Rick Hansen disclosure.

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    7. Now that David Baines has found out the information, it's important to get the money going into the research labs so we can get out of these chairs. There's no miracle overseas cure, the answer lies in the labs that can bring their work into translation. There's entirely too many places to send your money that wastes it. Cancer and AIDS had the same problems with various org's that don't spend the money appropriately too.

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  11. Troll: You didn't notice this comment section is about Rick Hansen? Maybe it's you that should wake up. Open your own internet site to do your carecure campaigning.

    You're posting in comments about RICK HANSEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Post your opinions at carecure for Dr. carecure instead of screwing up the comment section of the HANSEN issue on an unrelated website. Can't you read?


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  12. Troll: You didn't notice this comment section is about Rick Hansen? Maybe it's you that should wake up. Open your own internet site to do your carecure campaigning.

    You're posting in comments about RICK HANSEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Post your opinions at carecure for Dr. carecure instead of screwing up the comment section of the HANSEN issue on an unrelated website. Can't you read?


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  13. Are you kidding? This same troll never comments about the articles that are posted here. He's too damn lazy to start his own website. That's why the troll comes here to post about unrelated subjects.

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    1. No, he said he mad when doctor not cure him. He gave out his money and it is all gone. Many say the shots will help but it is not right.

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    2. So, what's that got to do with the Rick Hansen Foundation and the loss of millions from Canadian taxpayer research money for spinal cord injury? If the fruitcake lost his money then it's his own problem. It has nothing to do with the Vancouver article.

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    3. Not a darned thing. Don't invest in miracle cures that haven't had the proper animal testing and peer reviews to begin with. People aren't lab animals. None of that junk ever got NIH funding to begin with. The Baines article is all about an org that gets funding to find a cure but doesn't spend anything on it. Changes need to take place on this. Rick wouldn't know chronic sci research even happens when he's all about awareness and salmon fishing.

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    4. Biotech companies fund their own trials. They stand to make millions if all their relevant animal studies gave them conclusive evidence to move into humans. China was an unregulated country that allowed their people to be injected with anything. The whole cord blood and lithium thing started when wealthy donors became desperate. On the other hand we have lack of funding for good chronic research because my Canadian Government turned the responsibility of research over to a private foundation that's been allowed to go hog wild and not fund anything. It's screwed up man! RHF/RHI should give the research funding back to the taxpayers where proper oversight can take place. It's as out of control as the China situation was.

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  14. You guys are right. Bob has a ONE track mind because he's banned from all the other paralysis websites for trolling and he's pissed off about it. He wouldn't know how to open his own website. He can't read and understand these complicated issues and financial statistics that are posted here on the RHF/RHI anyway. That's why trolls are born.

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  15. Trolls are sexually frustrated. It's their way of spewing their junk.

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    1. oh that's too funny.

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    2. Is the troll a guy or a wannabe wheeler? Maybe he's trying to get paralyzed people to go to CareCure to talk to the fake people that say they are paralyzed but they aren't really. There's lots of faker people that go there to post.

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  16. We need to get all over this problem here in Canada. We'll never have a cure if money like this is siphoned off the Canadian coffers. We need to get the government involved and complain about what has happened. I'm grateful the article was published so we could find out what really happened to the millions and millions you've been questioning for years. Thanks millions Dennis!

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  17. Who gives a rat's ass what you think is good Bob? Go fight your own gawd damned battle at CareCure instead of thinking it's Dennis's job to do your dirty work for ya. How's that for docile? You're a lazy butt!

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  18. He's chasing Dr.CareCure at the Sam Maddox blog.

    http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/research/2013/06/30/china-sci-study-premature-mid-trial-speculation-


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    1. There's a well known pied piper for SCI in about every country throughout the world that will part you from your money. Some only work on awareness like Hansen and people didn't know that. Others are testing theories on humans instead of lab rats. Other's are injecting people with unknown cell concoctions and charging thousands to do it. The SCI community is vulnerable because of desperation. I think we need to focus on good solid chronic research to get anywhere. This other stuff is just fluff and a disappointing way to lose money.

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    2. You should probably add the problem of donations going to orgs that only fund acute research. If you don't understand the difference in an acute injury and a chronic one, then you've more than likely been funding acute research for those that have the 48 hour window. Most people are long past that stage and actually need a chronic therapy to help them recover.

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  19. Bob has been banned from CC few years ago as the truth he was telling to the CC community was affecting badly donations for Wise.
    I see people with SCI as young and naive children (also weakened by SCI induced desperation) who believe in fables.
    Wise tells them the fable they like and they want to believe in and Wise is like a smart adult who takes advantage of the naive children..
    But many children have grown up over the years and don't believe in Wise's fables anymore.

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    1. The article posted here is about the fables told by Rick Hansen. It's not about Wise Young or the CareCure forum. The troll should at least be able to read the subject matter and make a relevant comment.

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    2. bigbob the troll wasn't banned for truth telling. He was banned for being an a**hole in a thread where tribute was being paid to Dana Reeves upon her death.

      He wanted to carry on about embryonic stem cell research instead of pay tribute. He does the exact same thing here.

      He is incapable of following an agenda and insists on disruption.
      He's always throwing lots of different balls. That's why he strikes out and people won't listen to him.

      http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthread.php?t=59927

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    3. Nobody knows if an embryonic stem cell will help any better than cord cells do. Lots more research needs completed before we can tell. I would suggest you not be injected with ESC from an overseas clinic that tries to sell them to you either. Nobody should be campaigning for their use for SCI anyway. Nothing is proven in animal studies just yet.

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    4. bigbob thought so or he wouldn't have been banned.

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    5. If you read his threads at this carecure forum that he so mad about, he got mad because Wise didn't make a handicap basketball team at Rutgers for bigbobs son.

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    6. All BS...I don't give a shit about basketball, ESC, the China Syndrome or injections from Geeta. The true heroes are researchers working on chronic paralysis like I have. RHF, Miami Project and CDRF should be funding the critical research. They're not. We need lots more funding for the real research that is taking place. We need to be smarter and quit chasing all this funky cure stuff from the known culprit heroes. We would have had a cure a long time ago if the funding had been given to researchers that were willing to work on it. Instead we spin circles in our wheelchairs and pour money out to people that haven't been working on cure anyway.

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    7. Good point. Canada needs to get their donations and government initiative spending pointed at the real research. They should attend some of the Working 2 Walk symposiums to see what chronic research looks like. Nobody suffering a SCI needs to worry about awareness. We're aware of it. How could we forget? It's real and chronic research needs to be done. I'm not crazy enough to buy all the nutty stem cell gigs. I know that hasn't been proven. There is no good combo therapy yet. We should be looking at making that happen for chronic paralysis instead of chasing carnival barkers and making them rich. Logging onto the internet to see the latest cure and begging a the carnival barkers to cure you is senseless.

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  20. Then he should open up his own truth teller website and be done with his antics of obscuring focus and ruining the comment sections on the Rick Hansen issue that's posted on this website. Bob is too lazy. Case closed.

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  21. Nobody listens to or follows a lazy person. He's a troll that uses other's. He's no better than Dr. Caregood then. He hasn't even been bright enough to utilize the information that David Baines handed out concerning the Rick Hansen information here. I agree with the previous poster.

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  22. Right. Caregood is a user and so is the troll.

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    1. Being penny wise and dollar foolish is the bottom line. Millions are being spent in Canada for SCI. Now that we know these millions aren't going into "cure" research, we need to find out what can be done to have these millions going into research and demand changes to these funded initiatives.

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  23. The issue all along has been the lack of transparency in the spending of RHF/RHI. David Baines has dug in and found as much as he possibly could about the money that has been misused in the name of cure. If he was actually funding research into regeneration or therapies to restore function, I wouldn't be so angry. The whole time I was donating to him, I actually thought he was funding research into a cure. It turns out, that was only a ploy to take my money. I hope the government turns our money over to the researchers or a board that can help distribute the funds correctly. The whole situation makes me sick.

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  24. I would like to disclose this with you, hope you will take a look on http://gogetfunding.com/project/need-to-study

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  25. I would like to disclose this with you, hope you will take a look on http://gogetfunding.com/project/need-to-study

    ReplyDelete