This 88-year-old doctor has developed a groundbreaking stroke treatment — but no one will listen

Stethoscope.
(Image credit: iStockphoto)

Dr. Victor Gurewich believes he has a better way to treat strokes and heart attacks. But no one wants to hear it.

The 88-year-old Harvard Medical School professor just wants to publicize and test what could be a groundbreaking treatment, but he has struggled to be taken seriously, Stat News detailed in a report published Friday. Gurewich's treatment combines two medications to quickly break clots and reduce potential brain damage until a patient can receive angioplasty, which pushes a clot away for good.

Gurewich ran a clinical trial on the treatment 23 years ago, but the company that ran it shut down. Instead of Gurewich's method, a drug called tPA rose to prominence.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

But tPA often causes seizures and brain bleeds, making some doctors afraid to use it. Gurewich thinks he could produce a safer alternative, and with his research, he should've be able to find funding for another clinical trial by now. But some professionals shoot down Gurewich's idea, saying it's out of date. Others have never even heard it.

But when Stat explained Gurewich's proposal to one medical professional, the doctor said it was a "nifty idea," and "maybe" even a "great" one. Gurewich has some other staunch supporters who "believe in the science" behind his work.

One foundation has kept Gurewich's company afloat for years, and it's finally helping his treatment take the next step: A clinical trial of 100 patients will start in the Netherlands this June. With more funding, the treatment should get a second trial in London. Read more about Gurewich's unending determination at Stat News.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.