TULLAHOMA, Tenn. (AP) — A southern Middle Tennessee hospital is participating in a study of a gene therapy drug to see if it can help patients with congestive heart failure.
The Tullahoma News (http://bit.ly/sad7od) reports that cardiologist Dinesh Gupta at the Harton Regional Medical Center is participating with local resident Steve Thomas, who suffers from an advanced form of the disease.
Gupta said the study is double-blind, which means not even he knows whether Thomas is in the group that receives medicine or in the control group, which gets a placebo.
Thomas said he's glad to help with the study regardless of whether it helps him or someone else.
Nurse Celina Trussell said it would be several years before enough data is collected for federal officials to consider approving the drug.
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Information from: The Tullahoma News, http://www.tullahomanews.com
