CBS News Correspondent
Elizabeth Kaledin reports
Sang Lan fractured her spine
Tuesday, warming up for a
vault at the Goodwill Games.
Sang Lan underwent treatment with the drug Thursday night,
the first of 57 doses she will need.
"I don't want to present you or the public with any false
hope regarding the drug," said Dr. Anthony Angelo, of the
Nassau County Medical Center where Sang Lan received the
treatment. "Let us please understand that this is still an
experimental drug."
If given 48 hours after an
injury, studies show that GM-1
works by stimulating growth factors in damaged or severed
nerves. In some cases encouraging them to repair themselves.
"It helps facilitate a natural repair process that occurs in
the spinal cord," said Dr. Wise Young, who studies spinal
cord injuries at Rutgers University.
The drug was given to New York Jets star Dennis Byrd,
whose ability to walk again after a paralyzing neck injury
was
considered miraculous. Dr. Fred Geisler, who has just
completed the largest clinical trial of GM-1, says in the
type of
injury Sang Lan has GM-1 could improve her odds by 40
percent.
"That would include walking, not necessarily normal
walking, but upright ambulation," said Dr. Fred. H. Geisler
of the Chicago Institution of Neurosurgery.
The results of Dr. Geisler's study are expected in October.
If
they're positive GM-1 will be given fast track status for
FDA
approval.