Mult box, physician interviews and electronic media kit will be available at press conference. Patient and physicians will not be available for phone interviews after the conference due to the holiday. Media kit with full press release, images and animation available for download after 9 a.m. PST, Thursday. RSVPs to event required – see below.
WHAT: Keck Medicine of USC will perform a worldwide first in the field of epilepsy treatment, with potential to benefit up to 26 million people around the globe who have the disease and no other therapeutic options. Members of the surgical team who perform this groundbreaking treatment — as well as the world’s first patient to receive it after approval from the Food and Drug Administration — are slated to discuss the novel technology and the hope it brings less than 16 hours after surgery.
WHY: Epilepsy is a medical condition that produces two or more unprovoked seizures, affecting a variety of a person’s mental and physical functions. About 65 million people worldwide have epilepsy, including nearly 3 million in the United States. While approximately 50 percent of all patients with epilepsy gain complete control of their seizures for substantial periods of time and another 20 percent enjoy a significant reduction in the number of seizures, more than 30 percent experience devastating, uncontrolled seizures that dramatically inhibit their quality of life. This new therapy provides a groundbreaking FDA-approved option for those people where all other options have failed.
WHEN:
7 – 7:30 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013
Program begins promptly at 7 a.m.
WHERE:
Keck Hospital of USC
Cardinal Room (entrance near the hospital’s valet parking area)
1500 San Pablo St.
Los Angeles, CA 90033
PARKING: Complimentary parking in the Keck Hospital parking structure can be arranged in advance for low-profile vehicles. A limited number of news vans may be accommodated in valet parking. Metered street parking along San Pablo and Norfolk streets is also available.
WHO:
- Scott Evans, Pharm.D., CEO, Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital
- Tom Jackiewicz, M.P.H., senior vice president, USC, and CEO, USC Health
- Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., MBA, dean, Keck School of Medicine of USC
- Christianne Heck, M.D., M.M.M., associate professor of neurology, Keck School of Medicine of USC; medical director, USC Comprehensive Epilepsy Program
- Charles Liu, M.D., Ph.D., professor of clinical neurological surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC; surgical director, USC Comprehensive Epilepsy Program
- First patient in the world with epilepsy to receive the implant after FDA approval (Lakewood, Calif., resident)
Please note this event is not open to the public.
News media should RSVP to (323) 442-2830 or jessica.morin@med.usc.edu
For more information, please contact Leslie Ridgeway or Alison Trinidad at the USC press contact page.