Recently there has been a lot of news swirling around a potential cure for Multiple Sclerosis. MS has always been considered a progressive neurological disorder, but that notion is being challenged by an Italian vascular surgeon Dr. Zamboni. The Liberation Treatment or CCSVI, has had amazing results. It takes MS to a vascular vs. a neurological disorder, whereby MS patients with clogged veins in the neck are "liberated" by opening these veins and allowing the blood to flow unrestricted.
Promising results have been reported and studies are underway, and rightfully there has been resistance by some, including the MS fundraising societies, to ensure that proper, repeatable, scientific studies are done to ensure this is not a false hope situation...and that it is not "the cure."
However, it got me to thinking about what happens if this is "The Cure" and what happens if cures are found for other diseases. Not what happens to the patients, and the researchers will always find something new to research, but what happens to the large infrastructure that has been put together to raise funds for the disease?
Because let's make no mistake about this...these societies that raise funds, provide awareness, support etc. are large corporate machines that employ hundreds if not thousands of people. So what happens if there is a cure? What happens to this large corporation which has basically lost its one "product" and now has nothing else to sell?
It is an interesting question...one that most of us in the corporate world do not have to consider, because most corporations do not rely on just one product/service offering...there is usually a slate of options...potentially related, but not alone.
How does this philanthropic organization wind down? Where do the monies raised go? Many, many questions...and as far as I know this has never happened since fundraising has become somewhat of a big business.
It will be interesting to see. From everything I've read to date and the reports coming forward it seems that Dr. Zamboni's CCSVI treatment may be the first real cure for a major disease that we have seen, and I hope it proves out. But the implications go beyond the thousands affected by this disease, the implications will also be felt by those who are employed by the societies some who have dedicated their entire life to the pursuit of a cure and may soon find themselves without viable employment!
Promising results have been reported and studies are underway, and rightfully there has been resistance by some, including the MS fundraising societies, to ensure that proper, repeatable, scientific studies are done to ensure this is not a false hope situation...and that it is not "the cure."
However, it got me to thinking about what happens if this is "The Cure" and what happens if cures are found for other diseases. Not what happens to the patients, and the researchers will always find something new to research, but what happens to the large infrastructure that has been put together to raise funds for the disease?
Because let's make no mistake about this...these societies that raise funds, provide awareness, support etc. are large corporate machines that employ hundreds if not thousands of people. So what happens if there is a cure? What happens to this large corporation which has basically lost its one "product" and now has nothing else to sell?
It is an interesting question...one that most of us in the corporate world do not have to consider, because most corporations do not rely on just one product/service offering...there is usually a slate of options...potentially related, but not alone.
How does this philanthropic organization wind down? Where do the monies raised go? Many, many questions...and as far as I know this has never happened since fundraising has become somewhat of a big business.
It will be interesting to see. From everything I've read to date and the reports coming forward it seems that Dr. Zamboni's CCSVI treatment may be the first real cure for a major disease that we have seen, and I hope it proves out. But the implications go beyond the thousands affected by this disease, the implications will also be felt by those who are employed by the societies some who have dedicated their entire life to the pursuit of a cure and may soon find themselves without viable employment!
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