The Clinical Dangers of Unregulated ‘Stem Cell’ Treatments
With the advancements in the stem cell field there has been an alarming rise in stem cell ‘clinics’, which purport to take patient tissue, create iPS cells, and then inject them into ailing patients to cure all their ills.
One such clinic is the Florida based ‘U.S Stem cell,’ which has made the news multiple times for offering untested and unsafe stem cell treatments with tools intended for research purposes only.
Jeannine Mallard was a patient looking to prevent symptoms of macular degeneration, but went blind following the treatment and further suffered a retinal detachment in her right eye.
Following multiple individual lawsuits, warnings from the FDA, and a Department of Justice lawsuit U.S Stem Cell no longer offers it’s ocular ‘treatment’ however it still offers other experimental ‘treatments.’
In response to the lawsuits the owner of a medical supply distributor accused of supplying U.S Stem cell with unsafe supplies stated “We told them we were sorry and they got several million dollars and they were going to go blind anyway.”
With such empathetic people involved, it’s no surprise that more clinics continue to open. Each offers untested, dangerous treatments that accelerate disease progression and ruin quality of life for patients. Further, since these treatments are not covered by insurance costs often range from 7,000-10,000 putting an intense financial burden on vulnerable patients.
The target market for these ‘clinics’ is the elderly, as they generally do not understand exactly what the treatments entail and have the savings to afford the procedures. Hopefully, the FDA and DOJ will continue to limit the scope of these ‘clinics’ but until they are banned it is up to the public to make sure vulnerable parties are adequately informed about the dangers of these ‘clinics.’
For the full story please see the following news articles which have been the source for the details above.
LaGrone. Katie, There’s a problem with stem cell therapy in Florida. ABC ActionNews, 2018, https://www.abcactionnews.com/longform/theres-a-problem-with-stem-cell-therapy-in-florida
LaGrone. Katie, New lawsuit against US Stem Cell after patient loses vision; family ties called into question. ABC ActionNews, 2018, https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/i-team-investigates/new-lawsuit-against-us-stem-cell-after-patient-loses-vision-family-ties-called-into-question
LaGrone. Katie, “That’s totally fraud,” a leading stem cell expert responds to a FL clinic’s stem cell pitch. ABC Action News 2018, https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/i-team-investigates/inside-the-hard-sell-for-stem-cell-therapy-in-florida
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Other Resource:
The Niche, Knoepfler Lab Stem Cell Blog:
International Society for Stem cell Research, Closer Look at Stem cells
NYTimes, The UpShot, Stem Cell Therapies Are Still Mostly Theory, Yet Clinics Are Flourishing
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