Good story under this headline in the Los Angeles Times. Another cautionary tale of false hope, premature PR hype, and people who get hurt as a result.
The story begins: "When Hwang Mi Soon rose from her wheelchair and shuffled forward with the aid of a metal walker, her small steps were trumpeted around the world. 'Stem-Cell Gal's Miracle Steps,' crowed the New York Post in November 2004, while a New Zealand newspaper proclaimed, 'Miracle Cure for Paralysis.' The breathless pronouncements were accompanied by photographs of the 37-year-old South Korean woman who, just as in the cliche, was smiling through her tears.
Today there are only the tears.
Hwang is back in the wheelchair, where she has largely been since falling off a bridge as a teenager. She said the purported miracle treatment — which entailed injecting umbilical stem cells into her damaged spine — had only fleeting benefits that wore off after a few weeks. A second procedure in March 2005 caused an infection and left her in constant pain.
'I was like an animal they used for testing,' a bitter Hwang said."
One neurosurgeon says in the story: "The problem in Korea is that these therapeutic tests were conducted as much for public relations as for the patients," Jeong said. "There should have been more clinical testing on animals before they tried these procedures on people."
Posted by schwitz at March 10, 2006 12:06 PM | TrackBack