<<(e.g. "are the researchers providing their facilities and equipment for free?") reflect some naiveté that you should correct before you start lecturing people>>
They were just what you quoted: questions. It was not a lecture, not an instant rejection to your explanations, etc. Maybe, rather than attacking someone who is not privy to the protocal/process, you could enlighten them...:)
<<Going down a road that looks like it could hit a FDA dead end is not a career-sustaining move, unless for some reason they have a strong belief in the premise being tested>>
Is that what U researchers do: Visualize the final FDA decision? That's a long shot if I've ever seen one. And I thought they only cared about tenure. Anyway, you are not respecting the scientific evidence--the results of the EM--and in doing so, presuming that it doesn't hold much weight with scientists either. From what I remember, the EM--which has been described as highly credible proof (at least based on input from the experts here--99% accurate we've been told)--demonstrated that the drug histo was due to the fixative upon dissection.