Patient-led drug trials defy medical establishment

November 26, 2008 By MARCUS WOHLSEN , Associated Press Writer

Enlarge

Alan Felzer, right, and his daughter Karen Felzer, holding her son 11-month-old Emmet Harrington, look at a laptop computer in their house in Claremont, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008. Felzer, who suffers from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) or Lou Gehrig's Disease, and his daughter Karen helped lead a patient and care giver web study on the effectiveness of lithium on treating ALS. (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera)

(AP) -- Until last year, Alan Felzer was an energetic engineering professor who took the stairs to his classes two steps at a time. Now the 64-year-old grandfather sits strapped to a wheelchair, able to move little but his left hand, his voice a near-whisper.

---

Content from The Associated Press expires 15 days after original publication date. For more information about The Associated Press, please visit www.ap.org .

---

Similar stories from PHYSorg:

Toyota technology has brain waves move wheelchair

Jun 29, 2009 | 5 / 5 (6) | 3

British scientist Hawking leaves top Cambridge post

Sep 30, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (5) | 0

Babies & Robots: Infant power mobility on display

Feb 04, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Questions from end of stair-climbing wheelchair

May 25, 2009 | 4.2 / 5 (6) | 1

Swine flu rises at US colleges as students return

Aug 28, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

• vlam67 - Nov 26, 2008
  • Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
  You get the feeling that it is now illegal trying to survive and beat your illness unless with methods approved by the laws driven by the medicos. Heck, you are not even allowed to die free with remaining dignity without their approval! Plainly, it's their prestige, mortgage and livelihood is at stake, no bright-brainers are allowed to go near their turf-Hippocratic oaths be f*cked!!
  • report abuse
  • • Current rank
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
• deatopmg - Nov 26, 2008
  • Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
  "Some doctors caution that such patient-led research lacks rigor and may lead to unreliable results, false hopes and harm to patients."
  
  Sounds like some doctors would rather the ill sit on their hands while they die instead of seeking a palliative or cure. However, in the event that they do discover something effective it won't be patentable so it will be ignored or discredited by the industrial medical cartel (which includes the AMA)
  • report abuse
  • • Current rank
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5