Researchers find hundreds of clinics marketing selling stem cell interventions in US
02 Jul 2016
Contrary to popular perception, about experimental medical procedures being conducted in countries where lawlessness or lax supervision prevailed, two researchers have found 351 businesses selling stem cell interventions from 570 American-based clinics.
The researchers conducted a keyword-based internet search and analysis.
The businesses marketed which directly to consumers and in some cases to desperate patients in failing health often advertised types of stem cell treatments that did to fit the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulations.
"When you go on the Internet, what comes up, the first thing you see are these businesses," said Leigh Turner, co-author of the study. He added that many sites appear to intentionally blur the distinctions between approved, evidence-based scientific practices and quack procedures, edition.cnn.com reported. "The websites are well-done, with links to scientific studies and patient testimonials."
"It's a jungle out there," said Paul Knoepfler, co-author of the study and a stem cell scientist, adding that some treatment centers will call what they're doing "a clinical trial" when it's nothing of the sort. Instead, it's simply a for-profit center administering experimental procedures to earn income. "In college, I had friends participating in experimental trials, and they got paid," he said.
Such clinics could offer dangerous, often exorbitantly priced ''treatments.'' Their targets were usually the vulnerable and desperate, including terminal cancer patients, parents of autistic children, and grown children of parents with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.
''Our analysis should serve as a valuable resource for contemporary debate concerning whether the US marketplace for stem cell interventions is adequately monitored and regulated by the FDA, the Federal Trade Commission, state medical boards, and other agencies tasked with promoting patient safety and accurate advertising,'' the authors conclude.
