Akshat Jain is a pediatric hematology-oncology physician.
The withdrawal of Oxbryta (voxelotor) from global markets, announced by Pfizer after a recent data review revealed a rise in deaths and complications, has left sickle cell disease (SCD) patients in a precarious situation. The sudden nature of the announcement caught the patient and physician community off guard, as there was no prewarning. For an already narrow world of options available to people with sickle cell disease, this came as …
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Hemophilia and other bleeding disorders are rare genetic conditions that affect the body’s ability to properly form blood clots. People with these conditions often face challenges in accessing appropriate care and treatment. This is true not only in developed countries but also in low- and middle-income countries around the world.
One of the biggest access to care issues for people with hemophilia and bleeding disorders is the availability of specialized treatment …
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In a significant leap forward for medical science, recent breakthroughs in gene therapy are ushering in a new era of treatment for various human diseases. The field of gene therapy, which involves manipulating or introducing genetic material into a person’s cells to treat or prevent disease, has seen remarkable advancements, with several gene therapy drugs receiving approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Gene therapy has emerged as a groundbreaking …
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VIPIT is the medical term given to the phenomenon of developing clots in various parts of the body after certain (not all) COVID-19 vaccines. VIPIT stands for vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia, a complicated term explained simply as clotting of the thrombocytes or platelet cells in the blood vessels after receiving the COVID vaccine.
Clearly, understanding this newly evolving condition is very limited, but what we know so far is extremely concerning. …
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The recent pandemic has confined people all over the world to the indoors to try to keep the virus from spreading. Older adults have been the most commonly affected age group with the virus, but more recently, a strange presentation of COVID-19 has been seen in children.
New York City first reported 15 similar cases that occurred between April 16 and May 4 for the first time in the United States. …
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