Doctor who infected children in France with Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease apologizes
March 28, 2008
Jean-Claude Job, a French professor who administered growth hormone later found to cause Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, apologized to families of victims for his role in the tragedies.
The infections with Creutzfeldt-Jacob came from human growth hormone treatments that were developed by a process called hypophyse, using pituitary glands from brains of cadavers.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a very rare and incurable degenerative neurological disorder that is ultimately fatal. The first symptom of CJD is rapidly progressive dementia, leading to memory loss, personality changes and hallucinations. This is accompanied by physical problems such as speech impairment, jerky movements, balance and coordination dysfunction and seizures.
The families of French children who had suffered and died from the debilitating brain disease caused by their treatment testified at hearings in Paris about the growth hormone. Three weeks were devoted to the testimonies of the French families, who recounted horrific tales of watching helplessly as their loved ones succumbed to the long, torturous illness with little anyone could do to treat or comfort them.
Parents of children dead or still suffering from Creuztfeldt-Jacob disease, the human equivalent of Mad Cow disease, spoke of being advised at the time of their childrens’ treatments that the best minds in France had developed the treatments and that they should feel confident in the care their children were receiving. They were also told that the medicines were manufactured at the Institut Pasteur, the most prestigious medical body in France.
Later the French families spoke of being “totally abandoned” by the French medical establishment when their children fell ill, and of the costs of round-the-clock care by nurses and therapists.
Professor Job asked pardon from the families and said he had also asked forgiveness from God for the error. But he defended himself against charges of negligence, saying that no decision was taken lightly or unilaterally by him, but by a committee of his French colleagues.
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