Medicine: Life Jacket

It saves people who cannot eat

Brown-haired, blue-eyed Jason White looks like any sturdy, active, eight-year-old boy. But Jason is different; he cannot eat a bite of food. Ever since doctors removed his diseased stomach and part of his intestines five years ago, he has been fed almost entirely by vein, and seemed destined to spend his remaining years in hospitals. Now, outfitted with a newly designed life-giving vest, Jason is living at home and thriving.

The polyester mesh vest, developed by Dr. Stanley Dudrick and his team at the University of Texas, has...

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