San Jose, Calif. (Nov. 30, 2007) – Famed stuntman Evel Knievel was known for his death defying stunts and his recovery from life threatening injuries due to those stunts. It is ironic the disease that claimed his life was one that has no treatment and no cure. Knievel was unfortunately one of 40,000 people in the U.S. who will lose their lives to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) this year, the same number as will die from breast cancer. Yet, most people have never heard of IPF.

IPF has no FDA approved treatment, no known cause and no cure. The disease strikes randomly placing American adults at risk to develop it. More than 128,000 people suffer from IPF in the United States, and prevalence and incidence of the deadly disease has increased more than 150 percent in just five years.

"Our sympathies go out to the Knievel family. We know first hand the tragedy of IPF," said Mark Shreve, chief executive officer of the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CPF). “It is devastating news to IPF patients and their families that viable treatments for IPF still do not exist. We desperately need to increase awareness of IPF and fund research that will lead to new treatments, and ultimately a cure.”