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'Will it really work?': Young sickle cell patient among the first to start new gene therapy

NBC News
Summary
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71% Informative

Wedam Minyila , 19 , is one of the first patients in the world to undergo treatment for sickle cell disease.

He's one of only a few dozen patients nationwide who have been able to access it.

The FDA approved two gene therapies that could cure the symptoms of the disease just over a year ago .

Only a limited number of hospitals have treated patients so far.

At Children’s National , only 10 people, including Wedam , have initiated or finished the process.

The monthslong treatment Casgevy from Vertex Pharmaceuticals comes with a list price of $2.3 million .

The intensive chemotherapy lasts four days and makes patients extremely ill and susceptible to infection.

Until the gene therapy, the only cure for sickle cell disease was a stem cell transplant from a donor.

After some scary complications, the procedure was successful, but antibodies in Wedam ’s bloodstream prevented the same cure for him.

“I feel like it changed the life that he is going to live,” Wekem Minyila said.

VR Score

70

Informative language

67

Neutral language

48

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

36

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not offensive

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Attention-grabbing headline

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Known propaganda techniques

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Time-value

short-lived

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1

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