Fetal Tissue Controversy

Your editorial on the switch in views of the NIH nominee on fetal tissue research, together with news of the FDA rejection of Tacrine (THA), the only drug close to approval for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, makes the families and friends of Alzheimer’s patients wonder when our loved ones will get the attention they deserve from Washington.

Four million people in this country suffer from Alzheimer’s and more than 100,000 die of it each year, yet federal research funding for 1991 sits at $267 million, still many times less than AIDS and other diseases that cost fewer lives.

When we look into the uncomprehending eyes of our loved ones, we find it hard to believe that Healy, the right-to-lifers and Congress can be so unfeeling.

JEAN RUECKER

Ventura County Chapter

Alzheimer’s Assn., Simi Valley