We might be going too far with some of the medical procedures we are experimenting with nowadays. There was the controversial gene-edited babies which caused quite an uproar with the scientific community due to its ethical implications. Now, the FDA has stepped in after a poop transplant went wrong.
One patient has died and another became seriously ill after fecal transplants inadvertently seeded their innards with a multi-drug resistant bacterial infection, the Food and Drug Administration warned Thursday.
The FDA shared minimal details from the deadly transplants. Its warning only noted that the cases involved two patients who were immunocompromised prior to the experimental transplants and received stool from the same donor.
It appears that the stool carried a strain of E. coli which was resistant to multiple drugs and that prior to the transplant, the patients' immune systems had been compromised. However, no details surrounding the procedure were released to the public. Only that the FDA will be more stringent in regulating fecal microbiota for transplantation (FMT) procedures.
Usually, FMTs are conducted in order to help revitalize the gut microbiome. They say it has potential in treating intestinal infections and regulating the bacteria in our gut. However, it's still in the trial phase and due to this recent incident, it might not have bright prospects for any further developments.
(Image credit: skeeze/Pixabay)