What principal investigator Curt Freed is doing strikes me as manifestly unethical. He can no longer consider this human research in a state of equipoise--which justified the risks in the original randomized controlled trial. For now the results are in. Compared to the present standard of care his intervention is more likely to harm than help. Yet, patients who are vulnerable and desperate are being exploited to undergo (and pay for) it.
I do not object to continuing research but I believe that researchers should put an end to this use of human subjects until more fundamental questions are answered. In contrast to the above, I applaud the position of Lorenz Studer, as quoted in your article: "Studer's not ready, though, to start transplanting his embryonic stem cell derived DA neurons into patients because safety and functionality issues remain."
