Bob Yant, the founder of Cure Medical, strives to impact the world with a cure for spinal cord injuries, paralysis and urinary retention.  

Although Cure Medical founder Bob Yant has been paralyzed as a quadriplegic for more than 30 years, he has never given up on the idea that one day there’ll be a cure for spinal cord injuries. He works toward raising money and providing help for researchers who are looking for a cure for paralysis and urinary retention,  seeking an ultimate cure that will restore all functions to all individuals who have spinal cord injuries around the world.

Bob Yant’s vision is the underlying force behind the Cure Commitment, a program where Cure Medical donates 10% of net income from every catheter we make to fund paralysis and urinary retention medical research programs.

Bob shares his thoughts below on the latest advancements from medical research programs that benefit from the Cure Commitment:

Bob Yant: As I learned more about the non-profit organizations attempting to raise money for spinal cord research, I called a lady named Michelle Alioto whose 19-year-old daughter had sustained a skiing injury a couple of years after my accident. I told Mrs. Alioto that I was interested in raising money for spinal cord research. I set a personal goal to try and raise $25,000 that first year. I never considered the possibility of raising more money than that.

In less than a year, Mrs. Alioto called and asked, “Bob, how would you like to be on the national board of directors of the American Paralysis Association?”

Even though this was a volunteer position, of course I was thrilled. Michelle was very charismatic lady, so I jumped at the opportunity to join the board of directors.

The American Paralysis Association evolved into the Christopher Reeve Association, and then the name was changed to the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation . Today it’s called the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

In the last 30 years, I’ve been able to help raise about $8 million for spinal cord research.

Video: Bob’s Lifetime of Cure Advocacy

Talking to people one-on-one on the phone or in person raised most of the $8 million. One of the things I did to help raise this money occurred after I met a lady named Jackie O’Hara in Orange County, California.

Mrs. O’Hara has a son named Michael Knott who is a part of the family that owns Knotts Berry Farms, a big amusement park here in Orange County, second only in size to Disneyland. Michael Knott became a C5 quadriplegic two years after my injury.

By holding fund-raising events Mrs. O’Hara and her friends raised about $100,000 a year for more than 20 years, contributing more than $2 million for spinal cord research over 20 years.

I searched for other methods to get more money going toward spinal cord research. In 1989, I started a company called Research Medical, a retail company that sold urological supplies. We took 10% of the profits from Research Medical and donated that money to organizations trying to develop cures for the customers of Research Medical. The company was quite successful.

We started it in our garage and sold the company in 1996. At that time, we had 50 employees with about half of them in wheelchairs. You could say we had a reverse discriminatory hiring practice, in that we would hire people in wheelchairs, even if they weren’t trained or experienced in what we wanted them to do.

We tried to help advance their lives by providing meaningful work and income.

Note: SCI Research has been a key focus of every company Bob has led over the last 30 years, and remains the focus of Cure Medical today.

Bob Understands the Challenges of Charitable Contributions During Today’s Economic Conditions

Cash flow problems are endemic to retail urological supply companies. Most of those companies bill their customers’ insurance companies and/or Medicare and Medicaid.

Like your own health insurance claims, the retail urological supply companies are dependent on the insurance companies and Medicare to pay them back for providing customers with those supplies.

When I owned Research Medical, we constantly had cash flow problems because Medicare would take 90 to 120 days to reimburse us. Meanwhile, the manufacturers we bought from demanded to be paid in 30 days. One time Medicare withheld $200,000 from Research Medical in payments for nearly two years because of a dispute over closed system catheters.

The challenge in timely reimbursement made it hard for us to make charitable contributions to support our community, but we still did it because it was the right thing to do.

Today, we are honored and blessed to be able to continue our charitable contributions through Cure Medical’s daily work.   Learn more about the medical research programs that Cure Medical financially supports here.

Why Bob Yant Is Excited about the Future for Spinal Cord Injuries

I’d always been interested and tried to learn all I could about spinal cord injury research. In addition to the money I was raising for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, I raised a couple of million dollars for a type of gene therapy research being developed at the University of California at San Diego.

I was able to get small grants that led to bigger grants, which led to $15 million in federal grants to establish a primate colony at the University of California at Davis, where research was being done on spinal cord injuries.

Because of my interest in the subject, I’ve met about 300 scientists from all over the world who are conducting research on spinal cord injuries.

I’ve traveled to dozens of scientific meetings everywhere to meet these scientists and find out what’s being developed to possibly regenerate the spinal cord.

Bob often attends fundraising events in the hopes of encouraging more sponsors to support SCI research.

From meeting with these scientists, I’ve learned that the goal is achievable. The biggest problem of spinal cord research is funding the research. After learning about all the research being conducted, I started looking for a way to build another company, so that if it were successful, I’d have another vehicle to get the money to give to research.

I decided that instead of setting-up a retail company, I’d start a manufacturing company instead. Then we could take 10% of the money we made and donate that to spinal cord research.

Cure Medical was born out of a desire to help people who use catheters like Bob does.

We looked at all the catheters on the marketplace and began to study what we could do to make them better. We realized that catheters were very personal items, and that to encourage people to change to new catheters, we had to develop one that was significantly better.

Why Cure Catheters Are Designed with Smooth Eyelets

The first thing our company did was develop smoother eyelets (holes in the catheter) than many other catheters on the market.

Our goal was to lessen the trauma of inserting a catheter, so that there was no bleeding or tearing of the skin and to make the catheter easier and more comfortable to use.

I use catheters too, so I understand the problems that people experience while self-cathing.

We’re the only catheter manufacturing company that offers polished eyelets throughout our entire product line.

VIDEO: UNITED SPINAL SOuthern California president Rick Hayden explains why he chooses Cure Catheters with smooth eyelets

Cure Catheters Are Not Made With Known Carcinogens

Catheter manufacturers often use a plasticizer to make plastic [PVC] catheters flexible. The plasticizer being used today by most of the catheter manufacturers goes by the acronym of DEHP (Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate).

Is Your Current Catheter Made with DEHP? Ask Your Medical Supply Provider. If It Is, Choose a Cure Instead!

The reason our products are not made with DEHP is because people with spinal cord injuries have an above-average rate of bladder cancer.* Learn more about that here.  

I don’t believe it’s right to have known carcinogens in catheters that are used by people who have a higher incidence rate of bladder cancer than the general population. Do you?

That’s why you’ll see the DEHP-free logo on all Cure Medical products.

To request free samples of the Cure Catheter® or any Cure Medical catheter, contact your local distributor of quality healthcare products, or click here. 

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The Cure Commitment creates a bright future for paralysis & Urinary retention research

For the first time in history, researchers have been able to regenerate the nerves in the spinal cord that control movement. At this point, if animal results from this research can be translated to humans, it is possible to regenerate the nerves in two segments of the spine.

What that means to a person like me, who has a C5 spinal cord injury, is that if I have two more levels of regeneration on my spinal cord, I’ll regain full use of my hands.

If I can regain full use of my hands, then I will be completely independent for my personal care needs. Then I’ll be able to catheterize myself, prepare my own meals, drive a car and get myself in and out of bed – a total change of lifestyle for me compared to my life today.

That’s important not only to me, but also to thousands of people who don’t have hand dexterity due to paralysis.

If everything works out right, from what we know now, we may be testing some of this research on human beings within few years.

Bob YANT believes the sky is the limit for SCI research advancements

A recent announcement about this research is tremendously encouraging. By blocking two signals instead of just one, researchers regenerated 10 times the number of nerves previously regenerated.

The research was done in the optic nerve so researchers are attempting this approach in the spinal cord. This discovery opens up the possibility of long distance regeneration. If this research continues to progress, there is a possibility to restore all functions in all spinal cord injured individuals.

This exciting new research offers hope and promise for those of us who have spinal cord injuries. This possibility makes me adamant about raising money for research.

I’m very excited about the future for all people who are living with spinal cord injuries, and hope you are too!

thank you for choosing a cure!

 About Cure Medical
The Cure Commitment is unsurpassed in the industry. Only Cure Medical has committed to donating 10% of net profits to SCI scientific research. Cure Medical catheters are not made with DEHP, BPA, or natural rubber latex. Simply by using new Cure Catheters® or Cure Catheter® Closed Systems for routine intermittent catheterization, you take part in the sustained pursuit of a cure. Learn more at www.curemedical.com.

To request free samples of the Cure Catheter® or any Cure Medical catheter, contact your local distributor of quality healthcare products, or click here.

*More information on DEHP below:

Prop 65 News
News and details about California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, better known by its original name, Proposition 65 – www.prop65news.com

The Prop 65 News website provides timely, accurate and unbiased information about California Proposition 65 and related regulatory statutes such as California’s Safer Consumer Products Regulation and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). It is designed with both the practitioner and newcomer in mind, providing a quick and efficient way to track litigation trends, keep up with the latest regulatory developments, and provide a big picture view of Proposition 65 practice.

“Are plastics safe?; Some chemicals may affect the reproductive system, growing research suggests.” Elena Conis, Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2007 – see the article

“Hazards: PVC & DEHP” Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety, Washington State –www.wsna.org/healthandsafety/hazards.pvc.asp

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