According to the Seattle Times, “Stem-cell clinics have exploded in number across the United States. In 2009, there were two; today, there are at least 700 and likely hundreds more, according to Leigh Turner, a University of Minnesota bioethicist, and Paul Knoepfler, a stem-cell biologist at the University of California at Davis, who have compiled a database. In the past four years, at least 150 new facilities have opened every year.”
We had an interesting presentation at Skyline last week about the research being done and the hope that stem cells hold great promise for future treatments. The fact is though, that stem cell treatments are as yet unproven and none are approved by the FDA. So although the science is promising, we are likely several years away from targeted proven beneficial treatments.
Yet the Seattle Times continues to allow full page ads for unproven stem cell treatments, which at times can be harmful – and not just to the wallet. The FDA is beginning to crack down on the most harmful clinics which inject stem cells into blood vessels, eyes or the central nervous system. But the many hundreds of clinics which harvest your stem cells and inject them back into your joints are getting away with their hype. Again according to the Seattle Times, “Dr. Peter Marks, director of the F.D.A.’s center for biologics evaluation and research, said that the agency would continue to pursue unscrupulous clinics, but that those performing orthopedic procedures — injecting the fat-derived cells into joints — would take a back seat to clinics that inject or infuse cells into the central nervous system or bloodstream.
At the time, Dr. Marks said: “There are hundreds and hundreds of these clinics. We simply don’t have the bandwidth to go after all of them at once.”
Bottom line: Caveat Emptor – and be concerned about the ethics of stem cell full page ads.