Health
Leukemia patient receives first-ever bone marrow transplant from deceased organ donor
Bone marrow transplants can be life-saving for patients suffering from certain types of cancer, blood disorders and other diseases — but for many patients, finding a match can take months or years.
Each year, roughly 18,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with potentially fatal diseases that could be successfully treated with donated bone marrow.
To help increase the chances of these patients getting life-saving treatment, the bioengineering company Ossium Health has created a program that offers deep-frozen bone marrow from deceased organ donors.
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Earlier this year, after an unsuccessful four-month search for a matching donor, a 68-year-old Michigan woman became the first patient to receive a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated organ donor for blood cancer treatment.
Each year, roughly 18,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with potentially fatal diseases that could be successfully treated with donated bone marrow. (iStock)
The patient, who was suffering from acute myeloid leukemia, received the transplant at Henry Ford Health in Detroit, Michigan. She is now “rapidly recovering,” according to doctors.
“We were nervous about it because there was no precedence of using a bone marrow from a cadaver,” Muneer Abidi, M.D., a hematologist at Henry Ford Health who led the clinical trials for Ossium’s bone marrow product, told Fox News Digital during a phone conversation.
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“So there was a little bit of apprehension and anxiety, but we were pleasantly surprised and happy when she robustly recovered her [stem cell] count, very similar to the anticipated time duration for a normal, healthy donor.”
Bone marrow barriers
Bone marrow transplant is the final-line treatment for blood cancer patients, according to Kevin Caldwell, the CEO of Ossium Health.
In the current health care system, a blood cancer patient who needs a bone marrow transplant has to find a healthy living volunteer who is a close enough match.
“We were nervous about it because there was no precedence of using a bone marrow from cadaver.”
“Unlike many other organs, which you can just take from one person and transplant into pretty much anyone else who’s a similar size, the bone marrow must be very closely genetically matched,” Caldwell said during a conversation with Fox News Digital.
And the process isn’t easy, he noted.
“The donor has to be ready, willing and able to provide bone marrow for a complete stranger, to have their hip drilled into, and their bone marrow aspirated out or their stem cells mobilized — taking several days off of work and making a meaningful sacrifice to benefit someone they’ve never met,” Caldwell said.
The bioengineering company Ossium Health has created a new program that offers deep-frozen bone marrow from deceased organ donors. (Ossium Health)
There is also the challenge of timing.
“It can take months to find someone who’s healthy enough and willing to donate, and is a genetic match — and those are months that these blood cancer patients often don’t have,” Caldwell said.
About 55% of blood cancer patients successfully receive a transplant, he noted. The other 45% don’t, and most of those won’t survive.
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Another widespread issue is that it’s difficult to find a fully matched donor for minorities, especially African-Americans, according to Abidi.
“The problem worsened during COVID,” he told Fox News Digital.
Meeting the need
To help address these issues, Ossium Health developed a bank of bone marrow that is derived from organ donors.
“We’ve built a network of 27 organ procurement organizations around the United States that manage organ donation, obtain consent and do the recoveries,” Caldwell said.
Ossium has launched a clinical trial — called PRESERVE I — that provides bone marrow to acute leukemia patients who need an allogeneic (genetically similar) transplant. (Ossium Health)
“We’ve trained them on how to recover the bone marrow, and then we built the facility where we process and manufacture the doses for the patients, and we cryopreserve it there on site.”
The goal, Caldwell said, is for bone marrow to be recovered and donated just as other organs — like hearts, livers, lungs, kidneys, corneas and skin — have been for decades.
“Before Ossium, the bone marrow from these donors — the life-saving stem cells that are present in the vertebral bodies of these donors — was not being used,” Caldwell said.
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“It would be discarded despite the fact that these people had consented to organ donation.”
Ossium has launched a clinical trial — called PRESERVE I — that provides bone marrow to acute leukemia patients who need an allogeneic (genetically similar) transplant.
The Michigan woman, the first patient to be enrolled in the trial, received her transplant in May 2024 through Ossium’s HOPE Program.
The end goal, said Ossium’s CEO, is to “dramatically expand” the pool of bone marrow stem cells from deceased organ donors to help fight cancer. (iStock)
“Today, she’s alive and well and on a great recovery trajectory from her blood cancer, because we had a bone marrow unit that could match her and save her life,” Caldwell said.
“This case exemplifies the importance of this new option for patients with urgent needs.”
Benefits of cryopreserved bone marrow
There are several advantages of using bone marrow from deceased donors, Caldwell said — the biggest one being that much more of the organ can be used.
“Our donors don’t need their bone marrow anymore, so we’re able to recover much more of it than we could ever ethically take from a living person who still needs their bone marrow to live,” he said.
On average, they are able to get two to five times as many cells from an organ donor than from a living person, according to Caldwell.
“Our donors don’t need their bone marrow anymore, so we’re able to recover much more of it than we could ever ethically take from a living person.”
“That may mean that we can do multiple transplants from one donor and save multiple lives.”
In other cases, they may be able to provide a larger dose of stem cells, which improves patient outcomes.
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“For the first time ever, the doctor has a choice about what dose he or she wants to give to their patient — similar to when they’re deciding a dosage when prescribing a medication,” Caldwell told Fox News Digital.
The immediate availability is also a major benefit, Abidi added.
“The product is already available and collected, and we know exactly where it is stored,” he said.
Ossium built the facility where they process and manufacture doses of bone marrow for patients, and cryopreserve it there on site.” (Ossium Health)
“When we approach a healthy donor, it can take up to three months or longer from start to finish — but in this case, if we have a donor match identified in the inventory, the product can practically be shipped to us the next day.”
For patients with leukemias and other aggressive diseases, this immediate availability can mean the difference between life and death, Abidi said.
Consent and regulation
The donors on Ossium’s platform are “double-consented,” according to Caldwell.
The first step is for a person to agree to be an organ donor, which typically happens at the DMV.
Approximately 170 million people are registered to be donors, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration.
Ossium also follows a second consent process after the donor’s death.
“We also get consent from the family, to confirm that their loved one would like to provide these organs,” Caldwell said. “In the vast majority of times, the family members will honor that decision.”
Approximately 170 million people are registered to be donors, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration. (iStock)
Because the cryopreserved bone marrow is not a drug — and not significantly different from living donor bone marrow — it is not subject to approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Caldwell said.
“The FDA does not regulate bone marrow transplants from living donors — they consider those to be just like organ transplants,” he said.
After finalizing its product and facility, Ossium sent the process and data to the FDA, which confirmed that its oversight was not required.
“But we’re doing the studies anyway, to produce a data set that will empower bone marrow transplant doctors to use this product for their patients,” Caldwell said.
Looking ahead
Since the first transplant for the patient in Michigan, a second one was performed in Utah, and many more are planned, Caldwell said.
“We’re really excited about the outcomes from these first couple of patients,” he said.
Ossium now plans to publish the data to help boost enrollment in the clinical trials.
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The end goal, Caldwell said, is to “dramatically expand” the pool of bone marrow stem cells from deceased organ donors to help fight cancer.
“Leukemia is a treatable cancer if you are able to find a donor in time,” Caldwell said.
“We don’t want anyone to die because of a logistical problem.”
“We don’t want anyone to die because of a logistical problem. We want to achieve a world where virtually everyone who needs a bone marrow transplant can get one.”
While Ossium’s platform is currently focused on treating blood cancers, there are other ways it could benefit patients in the future, Caldwell said.
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“There are many other applications of having a clinical bank of stem cells available, including doing organ transplants without immunosuppression and preventing organ rejection,” he said.
Added Abidi, “As more data becomes available to show the safety in larger number of patients and donors, this certainly is going to be a very nice addition.”
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Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers.
That’s according to a recent study led by Stony Brook Medicine in New York, which evaluated the cognitive function of 4,000 adults 80 and over who participated in multiple aging and longevity studies over several years.
Among this group, 6% to 10% were classified as super movers, which means they walk at a much faster pace than others of the same age and gender — at speeds comparable to people three decades younger.
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The super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed.
The findings were published in the journal Neurology on June 16.
Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers. (iStock)
“The study reinforces that mobility and brain health are closely connected,” lead study author Dr. Joe Verghese, MD, neurologist at Stony Brook Medicine, told Fox News Digital. “This suggests that preserving mobility may be an important marker of healthy brain aging and resilience.”
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The most intriguing finding, according to Verghese, was that super movers maintained cognitive function despite having similar dementia-related brain changes as their peers.
In postmortem brain analysis, there was no difference in dementia-related pathologies between the super movers and the slower walkers, the study stated.
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“This suggests they may possess resilience mechanisms that help preserve brain function even in the presence of age-related changes,” he said. “Understanding these resilience factors could lead to new strategies for promoting healthy brain aging.”
As the study was observational, there were some limitations, and it does not prove that walking faster prevents dementia, the researchers noted.
Super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed. (iStock)
“Other factors, such as cardiovascular health, physical fitness or genetics, may also contribute to both faster walking and better cognitive outcomes,” Verghese said.
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This study adds to growing evidence that what’s good for the heart and muscles also benefits the brain, he noted, adding that “staying physically active remains one of the most effective, evidence-based ways to support healthy aging.”
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment.”
“The broader message is that physical activity is important at any age,” Verghese said. “Walking is an easy step-up point because you don’t need any special equipment. You can do it inside or outdoors, and you can do it on a regular basis. You can walk with a dog, you can walk with a friend.”
Any activity is beneficial if it’s done regularly and with the right intensity, he added.
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Rather than just trying to walk faster, the neurologist recommends that seniors focus on maintaining mobility through regular physical activity, strength training, balance exercises and good cardiovascular health.
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment,” Verghese noted.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking. (iStock)
This can be achieved by walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or about 20 to 25 minutes most days. Another option is to engage in shorter sessions that add up over the day.
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“You have to do it within your health limitations and medical conditions,” Verghese advised. “So if there are any medical concerns, I would get your physician to clear you before starting exercise.” The good thing about walking, he added, is that you can start at a slow pace and then gradually build up to a brisker pace.
“And then adding on strength and balance training, whatever age you are, I think is also important.”
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Health
Dr Oz warns Medicare scammers are stealing billions — and your personal information could be next
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Washington, D.C. – Medicare fraud is a multibillion-dollar problem that government officials say threatens both taxpayer dollars and Americans’ personal identities.
In a July 6 interview with Fox News Digital at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., Dr. Mehmet Oz warned that every dollar stolen through Medicare fraud is a dollar taxpayers lose – a problem that has worsened since the COVID pandemic.
“If I had to just pick one thing to focus on to make healthcare more affordable in America, I’d go to health fraud and all the waste and abuse that accompanies it,” said Oz, who is the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “And just to put this in perspective, we think it’s about $100 billion a year.”
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Medicare fraud can include billing for services that were never provided, overcharging for medical equipment, using stolen patient or doctor information, or performing unnecessary procedures, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
CMS administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz is pictured on stage at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., on July 6, 2026. (Angelica Stabile/Fox News Digital)
As the Trump administration ramped up efforts to combat fraud, CMS reported $41.9 billion in Medicare program integrity savings in 2025, up 59% from $26.3 billion in 2024.
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Medicare fraud not only harms the federal budget and steals from taxpayers, but exposes seniors to identity theft, unnecessary care, higher premiums and reduced access, Oz cautioned.
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Removing corruption from the healthcare system will have the greatest impact among seniors, since “so much of the fraud is perpetrated against them,” the administrator said.
“I’m talking about people tricking seniors to give up their Medicare beneficiary numbers, which is like a credit card basically,” he said. “These scammers can take those numbers and use them for all kinds of illegitimate purposes.”
“If I had to just pick one thing to focus on to make healthcare more affordable in America, I’d go to health fraud and all the waste and abuse that accompanies it,” said Oz. (Fox News Digital)
“People are stealing from you by pretending to send you drugs you don’t want, wheelchairs you don’t need, [and] services you never asked for or don’t benefit from,” Oz added.
To prevent this, he shared his top advice for seniors: Do not give your Medicare beneficiary number to anybody, do not answer questions on a phone call from an unknown person and do not give away personal information.
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“These scammers are calling seniors, tricking them, and once they have key information, they can steal it,” he said. “And I won’t know it and you won’t know it.”
“We want to protect people who need these programs the most,” Oz went on. “You do that by making sure scoundrels don’t corrupt the systems and steal money out of the till that is designed to help folks in dire straits when they’re vulnerable and in need of services.”
Seniors should never share their Medicare information with unknown people, the administrator advised. (iStock)
Removing fraud could “double the life expectancy of the trust fund that makes all this possible,” Oz predicted.
“If you’re worried about Medicare being there when you’re ready to retire in a couple decades, depending on how old you are, and you’re concerned that it might not last because of all the fraud that’s hitting it … you’ve got a good [reason to] worry,” he said.
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“If we take the fraud out, we could double the life expectancy, which means you, your kids, your kids’ kids … they could all benefit from this beautiful safety net program.”
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