In Vino Veritas

“One day when I was a junior medical student, a very important Boston surgeon visited the school and delivered a great treatise on a large number of patients who had undergone successful operations for vascular reconstruction. At the end of the lecture, a young student at the back of the room timidly asked, ‘Do you have any controls?’ Well, the great surgeon drew himself up to his full height, hit the desk, and said, ‘Do you mean did I not operate on half of the patients?’ The hall grew very quiet then. The voice at the back of the room very hesitantly replied, ‘Yes, that’s what I had in mind.’ Then the visitor’s fist really came down as he thundered, ‘Of course not. That would have doomed half of them to their death.” God, it was quiet then, and one could scarcely hear the small voice ask, ‘Which half?’”

 -As told by Dr. Earl Peacock in Leon Gordis’ Epidemiology

The Plan

“The University of Kansas Medical Center has begun a journey to help make the Kansas City region a world-class center for biosciences. The goal is to enhance and link basic and clinical research and to provide the leadership to translate those objectives into better health care and quality of life for the Greater Kansas City region, the state of Kansas and the country.

“The 10-year, $800 million initiative has been spearheaded by KUMC’s Executive Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean of the School of Medicine Barbara Atkinson, MD. Her goals for KU Medical Center include becoming a top-25 medical center in basic life sciences, a top-50 center in research and development, and quadrupling the external research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and private organizations to approximately $340 million annually within the next 10 years. ”

—‘The Future is Now,’ also see: ‘Poised for Take-Off’ (Both articles are from the 39th+Rainbow publication).

…And in much more detail…

The Stowers Institute piece of the puzzle… 

“In June, Neaves said that continuing political opposition to embryonic stem cell research in Missouri had prompted the Stowers Institute to put on hold its plans to add 600,000 square feet of new research space in the Kansas City area every decade in perpetuity.

“At the same time, Neaves reported that the institute had bought more than 100 acres of undeveloped land at an undisclosed location in Kansas City to demonstrate its commitment to expand locally after “the environment for embryonic stem cell research in Missouri stabilizes.” 

—Kansas City Business Journal 

And another source here… 

 The Hold Up

“We believe the Secretary of State had it right when she accurately and fairly summarized stem cell research opponents’ proposed initiative as repealing Missouri’s Stem Cell Amendment and criminalizing the activities of doctors and patients involved in federally approved research.”

—The Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures: February 20, 2008 Ruling 

Not that the advancement of the science and the health care industry in Kansas City hinges on what Missourians believe is ethical with regards to stem cell research, but all of this is much easier to derail in these early stages. 

Two steps forward, and hopefully not one step back  …Maybe Stowers will just move to Kansas, instead of out of the midwest all together. 

I’ve been working at the Kansas City Free Health Clinic for awhile now, and have loved every minute of it. The clinic was bourn of the Westport Free Health Clinic, which was started out in 1971 under the charge of:

We believe that health care is a human right, not a privilege based on income or anything else; that health care means caring about people, not just treating their diseases; that an emphasis on health education, preventive medicine, demystification and de-professionalism of medicine must underlie all interactions between staff and patients; that no hierarchical structures can exist among clinic staff or between staff and patients. We see the Free Clinic as a tool to build a new community.

These are the only two pictures of the Free Clinic I have/found. There are several different versions of the poster on the left, many in some great day-glo colors. The picture on the right is of the original founders of the clinic in it’s first permanent home — a house that was later condemned — near Westport.

The original spirit of the founders lives on, though the clinic has expanded quite a bit. The services offered blew me away when I started, as did the facilities. I have seen private practice clinics that don’t look as well ran as this place. In order to keep the place running, provide free prescription medications, medical, dental, and chiropractic care, as well as a staff to manage the 900 volunteers running around–one can imagine it takes a lot of donations, as well as a lot of fundraising. This weekend is the inaugural Kansas City Beer Festival out at Legends. Tickets are $20 if purchased before the event, and $25 there. Your money gets you a commemorative sampling glass to use at your own discretion . A portion of the money goes to the KC Free Clinic. If you still have any doubts, I’m including a list of the participating breweries and their beers. There are a few heavy-hitters on the list like New Belgium, Odells, Anchor, Breckenridge, Sierra Nevada, Heineken, Goose Island, Lost Coast, Left Hand, Great Divide, the list goes on and on.

Support The Kansas City Beer Fest ….Tickets available here.