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Touted seven years ago as a way to develop "breakthrough cures" for an array of life-threatening ailments, California's $3 billion taxpayer-financed stem cell agency still has no treatments on the market and is at a critical juncture that could determine how much longer it stays in operation.
The agency will dole out the last of its money in about five years and supporters are considering another ballot measure to raise up to $4 billion to keep it afloat. But while it has financed numerous studies and helped create a dozen major research facilities across the state, voters -- given the state's dire budgetary woes -- may not be as enthusiastic today as they were in 2004 when they approved Proposition 71 to create the agency, known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
"I think it's crazy," said John Simpson, of the Santa Monica-based group Consumer Watchdog. "The state's economy is in a far different position now. We're not even able to provide adequate funding for education."
In addition, the federal restrictions on stem-cell research -- which prompted passage of...
The agency will dole out the last of its money in about five years and supporters are considering another ballot measure to raise up to $4 billion to keep it afloat. But while it has financed numerous studies and helped create a dozen major research facilities across the state, voters -- given the state's dire budgetary woes -- may not be as enthusiastic today as they were in 2004 when they approved Proposition 71 to create the agency, known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
"I think it's crazy," said John Simpson, of the Santa Monica-based group Consumer Watchdog. "The state's economy is in a far different position now. We're not even able to provide adequate funding for education."
In addition, the federal restrictions on stem-cell research -- which prompted passage of...