Tag: stem cell clinics

State Attorneys General pursue consumer protection law claims against stem cell clinics

State Attorneys General are pursuing stem cell clinics offering unproven therapies and engaging in fake clinical trials using state consumer protection and false advertising laws, seeking monetary penalties and injunctive relief. Until there is rational, comprehensive stem cell regulation, these actions can help fill the regulatory gap.

/ March 24, 2022

FDA warns public about exosome treatments

The FDA and Nebraska health authorities issued warnings after patients became seriously ill following treatment with exosomes, an unproven, potentially risky and, per the FDA, illegal product being promoted by dubious stem cell clinics.

/ December 19, 2019

Patients blinded by stem cell therapy: an update

An update on the tragic results of unproven stem cell treatments to treat macular degeneration.

/ May 10, 2019

FTC settles deceptive advertising claims against amniotic stem cell clinics

An FTC settlement may kill "amniotic stem cell" treatments, but a plethora of other stem cell clinics flourish without regulatory oversight.

/ October 25, 2018
President Trump signs right-to-try

Right-to-try is now law. Let patients beware!

Last week, President Trump signed the worst federal right-to-try bill under consideration by Congress into law. Its purpose was never to help terminally ill patients, and now that it's law there will be nothing the FDA can do to protect vulnerable terminally ill patients who choose it. That's a feature, not a bug. That's because right-to-try is the result of a collaboration...

/ June 4, 2018

Crowdfunding unproven stem cell treatments: overstated efficacy, unstated risks

Crowdfunding campaigns for unproven stem cell treatments exaggerate the benefits and underemphasize the risks, all the while raising considerable funds and generating social media buzz.

/ May 10, 2018

Corrigendum. The Week in Review for 03/19/2017

What happened this week? Measles returns to kill. Stem cell injections blind. Lousy acupuncture studies. Fire hot. Skinny jeans are not a reason to see a chiropractor. Lesbian tendencies do not respond to homeopathy. And more.

/ March 19, 2017

The stem cell hard sell

There are, unfortunately, a lot of clinics in the US that offer stem cell therapies for indications ranging from heart disease to anti-aging to even autism without good evidence that these therapies are actually efficacious. Real stem cell scientist Paul Knoepfler attended an informational seminar on stem cell therapies offered by a major clinic. Not surprisingly, it was more marketing than informational....

/ August 22, 2016

SCAM Cell Therapies

Injecting animal cells into humans for therapeutic reasons has a long history. The most infamous was John Brinkley who injected goat testicles into 16,000 men in the 1920s and 30s to treat impotence. Harriet wrote a review of Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam, which covers the topic. I wonder who would get...

/ November 27, 2015

Stem cell clinics and unapproved, for-profit human experimentation

Editor’s note: I met Dr. Paul Knoepfler online in the wake of my two posts on Gordie Howe and his stem cell treatment for stroke. I was impressed by his posts on the topic and what I saw at his own blog. Given that he’s a stem cell researcher, I wanted him to write a post on stem cell clinics like the...

/ January 19, 2015