Lawmakers Bring Aches, Pains to Debate

Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla., right, addresses a gathering at Tinker Field as Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer looks on in Orlando, Fla. in this June 2, 2003 file photo. Keller doesn't buy the argument that existing Medicare drug program works and the government should leave well enough alone and let the market dictate pricing - even though his state has many old people and, at 42, he needs a prescription, too. "I happen to take Lipitor for lower cholesterol," he said. (AP Photo/Peter Cosgrove, File) (Peter Cosgrove - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Dan Lipinski endures at least nine needle pricks a day to control the diabetes he's had since childhood. Rep. Joe Barton takes a half dozen prescription pills daily to ward off another heart attack. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's little girl may need her fourth open-heart surgery in a few months. Such personal details are spilling out in debates close to home for the lawmakers shaping policy on prescription drugs, stem cell research and more.

Most members of Congress are distant from the experience of earning minimum wage or having kids in a rundown school. But when it comes to health care, they bring their own aches and pains to the table.

Not always, however, in predictable ways.

Diabetes is considered one of the diseases that stem cell therapy might someday help.

But Lipinski, D-Ill., 40, stands in the minority in his party in opposing federal financing of embryonic stem cell research because, to him, moral qualms trump medical promise. He objects to the fact that embryos must be destroyed to get the stem cells and favors research on other types of stem cells, such as from umbilical cord blood and amniotic fluid.

"I desperately want to be cured of diabetes, and I want to see the suffering end for so many other people," said Lipinski, whose daily regimen includes four insulin injections and five drawings of blood. "But science continues to demonstrate we don't have to choose between advancing medical techniques and contentious life issues."

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones used her 86-year-old father's bouts with Alzheimer's disease and dementia to support her case for embryonic stem cell research.

The Ohio Democrat, 57, said her father still recognizes her, but she remembered him as an active man who played golf and told her often that he was proud of her.

"I do get 'I love you,'" she said, "but I would have loved to have been able to see him be more of the Andrew Tubbs that I grew up with."

Lawmakers get generous health and drug benefits from the government, so their shared experience and empathy with the common citizen only go so far.

But they do have many stories to tell about what ails them, especially since Congress on the whole is getting older. The average age of senators is 61.8, the oldest ever, up from the historical average of 53.9, according to the Senate Historical Office. The House does not keep such statistics on its members.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., 70, had her right hip replaced just before Christmas. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., who turned 74 on Saturday, has leukemia. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., 60, is recovering from surgery to treat bleeding of the brain, his absence imperiling the slim Democratic majority.