CNN’s Selling A Miracle? Investigates Controversial Stem Cell Therapy Clinicsread more:
http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/17/cnns-selling-a-miracle-investigates-controversial-stem-cell-therapy-clinics/?iref=allsearchhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/DrEddyClinic/193604513989252Drew Griffin reports from India and U.S. for new documentary Sunday, May 20 at 8:00p.m. ET & PT
Dr. Geeta Shroff began her career as an obstetrician, transitioned to pediatrics, but says that her work treating infertility eventually led her to develop embryonic stem cell therapies. She now treats patients with diseases ranging from neurodegenerative disorders such as ALS, to spinal cord injuries, to cerebral palsy and genetic disorders at her clinic, the Nu Tech Mediworld Nursing Home in New Delhi, which she describes as the world’s only medical facility “using embryonic stem cells to treat patients on a daily basis.”
CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin criss-crossed the United States and traveled to India to meet with Dr. Shroff, and some of her patients, to report whether those patients are truly receiving treatments that are improving their quality of life – or, if Dr. Shroff’s treatments are giving patients false hope. CNN’s Selling A Miracle? premieres Sunday, May 20 at 8:00p.m. ET and PT on CNN/U.S. and replays on Saturday, May 26 at 8:00p.m. ET and PT.
In the new, one-hour documentary, Griffin speaks with a few of the over 85 Americans who have received Dr. Shroff’s controversial and expensive treatments. Six-year-old Cash Burnaman of Greenville, SC., presents symptoms similar to Downs Syndrome. He is developmentally challenged, has difficulty walking, and is mute. Cash’s mother, Stephanie Krolick, describes her willingness to have Cash and his father return to India for a second, five-week round of Dr. Shroff’s injections, which ultimately costs the family $50,000.00, this way:
“In this particular case, with Cash’s other conditions, we don’t have many other options – any, really, other options.” Krolick tells Griffin.
For background on the science of human embryonic stem cell therapy, Griffin interviews research neurosurgeon Dr. Nicholas Boulis of Emory University and Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Boulis is leading one of only two U.S.-sanctioned clinical trials evaluating the safety of embryonic stem cell injections. Dr. Boulis and his team demonstrate for Griffin the complicated refining and injection procedures necessary to administer the treatments within the sterile environment of a surgical hospital setting. Though still in early stages, Dr. Boulis’ research has been published in rigorously peer-reviewed medical journals.
Griffin challenges Dr. Shroff on her comparatively informal clinic settings, where her injections are sometimes administered by nursing staff. He also asks Dr. Shroff about her lack of any published work on the safety of her treatments or the claims of her research. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta also voices skepticism regarding Dr. Shroff’s approach to her research and treatments:
read more:
http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/17/cnns-selling-a-miracle-investigates-controversial-stem-cell-therapy-clinics/?iref=allsearchhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/DrEddyClinic/193604513989252 Posted by Dr. Geeta Shroff, embryonic stem cell research
Topics: CNN • Drew Griffin • Press Releases • Special Investigations and Documentaries Unit
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