Um, Dave, What Was That About "Adult Stem Cells Made Her Walk Again?"

Wired News has an extraordinary allegation by

a spinal-cord patient [who] has charged that Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Florida) used her image without permission and misled Congress and the public by suggesting that her case offers evidence that adult stem cells can help severely injured people walk again.

Susan Fajt, who suffered a spinal-cord injury in a car accident in November 2001 that left her with little sensation from her chest down, e-mailed Weldon, who is also a physician, on Wednesday detailing her complaints and requesting an apology.

On May 24, as Weldon tried to persuade members of the House of Representatives that embryonic stem-cell research was not only unethical but unnecessary, he held up a poster-size image of himself standing beside Fajt, who is clutching a walker in the photo.