The Lets Read Podcast - 53: Introducing Bad Batch

Episode Date: October 23, 2019

In Wondery's new series Bad Batch, host Laura Beil (Dr. Death) investigates the multi-billion dollar underregulated industry of stem cell therapy where greed and desperation collide. When a group of patients wind up in a Texas hospital in critical condition, the trail leads back to one stem cell company and its charismatic CEO. What happens when a supposed miracle cure leaves you worse off than before? Listen to Bad Batch at wondery.fm/BBLetsRead

Mom, Mom, did you see my race? Of course I did, darling. Look, you did your best. You tried. The thing is, it's not about winning. It's about taking part. Next year you might do better. But I did win, Mom.

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Beal broke that story open and now she is reporting on another important story, stem cell therapy and a bad batch that gave a group of patients disastrous results. Bad Batch will investigate the multi-million dollar, under-regulated industry of stem cell therapy where corporate greed and patient desperation collide. It's an industry that claims to treat pain, autoimmune diseases, infections, and even autism. It's a cautionary tale, an important listen. You're about to hear a preview of Bad Batch. While you're listening, go subscribe to Bad Batch on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. There's also a link in the episode notes that'll take you there. In the fall of 2015,

John Kosolsharan's mother called him with some worrying news. Well, you know, my mom calls me with these, you know, she texts me with these things like, you know, this is what happened to me today, I'm not feeling well. And so she sent me pictures of her hand and she said, you know, today I burnt my hand and it's really bad. His mom, Lois, said she'd been helping a stepdad weld a gate on their farm in Wisconsin. And she was holding that gate and he dropped a glove.

The glove fell into a pile of leaves. And to not start the leaves on fire, he wanted to hold the torch up and away from the ground as he leaned over to pick up the glove. The tip of the blue flame had grazed the top of Lois' hand. A torch is 2,700 degrees, so it doesn't take but just a flash in proximity, and it's going to burn it almost to the bone. She'd washed and bandaged the wound herself.

At the time, she didn't sound overly concerned, and at first John wasn't worried either. He grew up At the time, she didn't sound overly concerned, and at first, John wasn't worried either. He grew up on the farm, and he knows that injuries are just a part of life in the country. But over the next few days, Lois started texting her son the photos. I mean, I still have the entire series of pictures. It's crazy. And the pictures literally went from it looked like wrinkled skin to the skin got blisters to the skin came off until, you know, it was really looking like the first three, four, five layers of skin had come off. If you've ever suffered a severe burn on your hand or anywhere else, it's painful,

a constant searing pain that won't go away. Finally, his mom went to see a burn specialist. And the burn doctor at Madison was saying, you're probably going to lose this hand because as bad as it is, there is no way you're going to be able to keep infection out of there. Then John had an idea. A few years earlier, John had tried a new kind of treatment to help heal a knee injury.

And it had worked great for him. So he thought maybe Lois should try it for her hand. She was willing to give it a go. You get so desperate, you'll do anything at any cost to try to live. John flew his mother to California. He brought her to a clinic where she was hooked up to an IV and given stem cells. And just like that, her hands started to get better. And not just her hand.

She'd had arthritis for years. But after the stem cell treatments, that started to get better too. She stopped taking medication. She stopped taking pain pills. She was able to walk, she had a garden, she had, you know, watched the grandkids. That's okay. She can answer her phone and type on a smartphone.

So it was life-changing for me, really life-changing, aside from healing my hand. For John's mom, the treatment worked. Across the country, in Texas, Elaine Dilley tried to help her mother with stem cells, just like John had done. My husband and I would do anything to help her. But she would not be so lucky.

The doctor came in and he told me that we've got to airlift her. Her kidneys are shutting down. She's fixing to have a heart attack. And I'm just kind of stunned. Were you afraid that you were going to lose her? I knew I was going to lose her. John and Elaine would both do anything for their mothers.

They both placed their hopes in the promise of a miracle cure. But that's not the only way they would come to be connected. I'm going to say that wherever there's opportunity, there's greed. And wherever there's money, there's greed. And when greed gets involved, bad things happen. Once you find out the truth of the whole story, you just really can't believe anybody anymore. That was just a preview of Bad Batch. To listen to the rest, subscribe to Bad live dealer or enjoy over 3,000 games to choose from like Cash Eruption. UFC Gold Blitz. Make instant deposits or same-day withdrawals. Download the BetMGM Ontario app today.

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