A Florida firm now known as U.S. Stemcell, extracted fat cells from three subjects, separated out stem cells from the samples, mixed them with plasma then re-injected the mixture in the eyes of three women who suffered from macular degeneration. The women who participated in the experiment went completely blind within a matter of days.
The subjects found the stem cell trial therapy on clinicaltrials.gov which while listing experimental studies going on in the nation,”… many of these medical interventions have not been vetted through federal protocols for safety and effectiveness.”
U.S. Stemcell’s webpage Here
Go to the “News Releases” section and note the number of items relating to the company’s financials and investment prospects vs. actual medical news.
I don’t believe I would ever participate in a procedure where I had to sign off on blindness being a possible side effect. And I certainly wouldn’t have it performed on both eyes on the same day.
My days of experimenting are long over.
If the odds aren’t well established and in my favor…no thanks.
three women who suffered from macular degeneration.
Blindness was their final lot in life’s lottery.
It looks from the article like they received a settlement for their loss.
I can understand people’s desperation to do something, anything to avoid the inevitable but the people running these operations have a responsibility to their human test subjects as well.
My father suffered from Parkinson’s for many years. It is a shitty way to go.
He participated in several experimental treatment programs which may benefit future sufferers.
RIP, Dad.
If they had macular degeneration, then they were going blind anyway. Surely they weren’t blind to the risks, pun intended.
My mother was a human guinea pig for rheumatiod athritis in the 1970s it messed her up
Mankind and Medicine advance over the corpses of those who gave their lives, willingly or unwillingly, to make it so.
We owe them so much, and only a few of us will ever repay that debt.
And so it goes.
A drug named Lucentis has been very effective in reversing MD effects in one of my eyes and has arrested further deterioration in my other. All patients respond differently but I’m sure a believer.