Thursday, February 7, 2008

"She's Dying. His drug could save her"

From The Hook.

Mary Jane Gentry is going to die, and the UVA Health Sciences
Center, which has saved countless lives, has pulled away the experimental drug
that might save her.
"It was a ray of hope," she says, "and then they
stopped it."
When she was diagnosed 18 months ago with an aggressive case of
"Lou Gehrig's disease," Gentry knew it was a death sentence. Doctors told her
she had less than three years to live.
Desperate, Gentry-- herself a nurse
at UVA-- agreed to participate in a novel drug study. After eight weeks, she was
thrilled by a sign that the disease not only seemed to have slowed, but might
actually be reversing. She could suddenly move her left hand, which had been
useless for several months.
And her experience wasn't isolated: nearly half
of the study patients reported noticeable improvements in their condition while
none reported side effects.
So why did UVA halt the study?


Click on the link for the full story.

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