Several other forums obviously raved about this letter like it was a Godsend help for Dr. Xiao. Their reactions are understandable, given the side they take. However, does this letter really help Dr. Xiao? Some may say yes but I say not necessarily. First, no matter how these 31 doctors commend Dr. Xiao's work, it doesn't change the fact that Dr. Xiao confessed to the crime and will do his time after a trial. Second, no matter how they praise the Xiao's procedure, it doesn't change the fact this procedure is currently still under a clinical trial and a "rigorous experimental protocol" in USA. Last time I checked, this is NOT a standard care yet in USA for a SOLE reason: unproven risk/benefit ratio. We all agree, including the 31 doctors, that 1) now it is NOT the time to practice this Xiao's procedure as a standard care in USA and 2)at this stage, it is clearly wrong to have this procedure operated on thousands of patients in USA. But THAT was exactly what Dr. Xiao did already in CHINA. He used an unproven procedure as a standard practice on thousands of patients in China. Couldn't be any more wrong and immoral.

Quite a few XYSers here got angry, anxious or disturbed. These reactions are also understandable. But after the initial emotional reflex, we should calm down and think twice. A few days earlier, Dr. Evan Kass posted twice on a SCIENCE magazine forum, openly accusing Dr. Fang of being the engineer of a criminal case, in which 1)Dr Fang himself was one of the victims and 2) a primary suspect was already detained. That was inappropriate and I believe Dr. Fang has all the right to sue Dr. Kass for online defamation. However, in this open letter, these professors have their rights to commend Dr. Xiao, and frankly there is not much we can do about it, as long as they don't defame Dr. Fang. But the point is that their praise of Dr. Xiao doesn't automatically qualify/prove Xiao's procedure as a standard care procedure. Only time will tell and it won't take long, since a clinical trial will not last forever. So I'd say, wait and see. The odd favors which side? To me, it's a no-brainer.