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Rivarola Resigns as CEO of Max Foundation
28 April 2005
Pedro Rivarola resigns as CEO of The Max Foundation, a charity for
cancer patients that was founded in memory of his son, Maximiliano.
Current website: www.maxaid.org.
Former website: www.themaxfoundation.org (link to internet archives)
The history of the Max Foundation has been plagued by scandals.
In Brazil in the late 1990's, The Max Foundation claimed to have established a Latin American bone marrow registry named VidaMax. The charity collected samples from 1,061 donors during a first drive. But the partners had a falling-out. As a result, the donors could not be added to the Brazilian registry. The Max Foundation held the lab work, a blood center in Sao Paulo held the donor identities, and neither would share its information. This situation persisted for many years until a resolution was quietly arranged in 2008 (references: NYTimes and confidential sources).
In spring 2005, Rivarola moved on to found MaxCord, www.maxcord.net, an organization whose website said it is devoted to the promotion of cord blood banking. Some of the doctors listed as Scientific Advisory Board members of MaxCord have not agreed to work with the organization. As of summer 2009, the website www.maxcord.net redirects to www.irebound.net, a charity program regarding exercise.
Current website: www.maxaid.org.
Former website: www.themaxfoundation.org (link to internet archives)
The history of the Max Foundation has been plagued by scandals.
In Brazil in the late 1990's, The Max Foundation claimed to have established a Latin American bone marrow registry named VidaMax. The charity collected samples from 1,061 donors during a first drive. But the partners had a falling-out. As a result, the donors could not be added to the Brazilian registry. The Max Foundation held the lab work, a blood center in Sao Paulo held the donor identities, and neither would share its information. This situation persisted for many years until a resolution was quietly arranged in 2008 (references: NYTimes and confidential sources).
In spring 2005, Rivarola moved on to found MaxCord, www.maxcord.net, an organization whose website said it is devoted to the promotion of cord blood banking. Some of the doctors listed as Scientific Advisory Board members of MaxCord have not agreed to work with the organization. As of summer 2009, the website www.maxcord.net redirects to www.irebound.net, a charity program regarding exercise.
Last modified: 21.January 2010
Copyright 2000 - 2010 Frances Verter
Copyright 2000 - 2010 Frances Verter