NBC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman, on Thursday's Today, couldn't let a segment on
advances in cerebral palsy treatments go without tipping her hat to the Obama
administration's change in stem cell policy. After Today co-anchor Vieira
prompted Snyderman to list new therapies "on the horizon," Snyderman took the
opportunity to celebrate Obama as she hailed: "On the horizon? Keep your eyes
open for stem cells, especially now that we have new stem cell lines under this
new administration."
The following is the relevant exchange as it was aired on the December 3,
Today:
MEREDITH VIEIRA: And what other therapies and treatments are on the horizon at this point?
DR. NANCY SNYDERMAN: Well, you know, the real thing is you need to intervene soon. A lot of children, even if they have the problems at birth aren't diagnosed until the age of three. On the horizon? Keep your eyes open for stem cells, especially now that we have new stem cell lines under this new administration. We will start to see extraordinary advances in stem cell therapy, whether it's injecting it into the brain, whether it's injecting it into muscle. Whether it's, in fact, early fetal intervention. We don't know yet.
VIEIRA: So are we talking possible cure then?
SNYDERMAN: We're talking, I think right now, earlier aggressive treatment. Cure is still too big a word to put in there.
-Geoffrey Dickens is the senior news analyst at the Media Research
Center.