The local stem cell clinic here in Sacramento, Nervana Stem Cell Centers, continues to advertise treatments in The Sacramento Bee and there continue to be big questions about this situation. I’ve blogged about Nervana before and you can see the archived posts here.
Nervana must be spending big money on advertising because they have run many full-page ads in the Sac Bee in 2016. Those aren’t cheap. You can see the latest ad above in this morning’s paper.
The focus lately seems to be on marketing stem cells to treat neuropathy. One of the questions I have is whether there is evidence that using stem cells to treat neuropathy and other conditions such as arthritis is safe.
Is there any data showing it is effective?
Are consumers getting their money’s worth? These are expensive experimental treatments and stem cell treatment cost is a big issue in this arena today.
Is this OK with the FDA?
The fine print. As to that last question at least one past ad for this group seemed to suggest FDA compliance. However, in the fine print on today’s ad it says amongst other things, “the use of stem cells is not FDA approved for the treatment of the conditions that we treat and their use is investigational.” Some caution there from the clinic.
The word “investigational” there is also an interesting one as it raises the question again about whether the use of stem cells in this way would constitute the use of an “investigational drug” as the FDA would put it. If the answer is “yes”, then clinics should be getting FDA approval in advance.
It also says in an aspirational tone in the fine print, “However, we do believe in the healing power of stem cells and offer them to you in advance of any potential scientific discoveries that may prove their efficacy.”
Biomedical treatments should be, in my opinion, based on more than belief and should not be sold prior to proof.
The San diego office has closed , i am coming up on 6 months since my first injection, i received a call telling me if i needed further treatment Nervana may help me get to Sacramento for treatment , i have maybe 15 to 20 % success since my injection now I’m waiting for the response from my questions that were asked concerning my healing. i have lost faith in the promises that were made when i laid out 5500.00 last august.
My mother lives in the San Diego area and saw a full page newspaper ad for a free seminar hosted by Nervana Stem Cell Center. They have expanded locations to include a second clinic in San Diego.
My mother attended the free seminar and was very impressed since she is quite desperate to relieve her degenerative spine and peripheral neuropathy pain. After attending the seminar she called to ask for my help to look into stem cell therapy as a viable treatment for her. In the meantime, she also scheduled a free consultation at the new San Diego office.
I am very thankful my many hours of research on stem cell therapy led me to Professor Knoepfler’s blog because the information I had been reading suggested stem cell therapy has NOT been proven to heal/successfully treat degenerative spinal disease or neuropathy.
I joined my mother for the free consultation and noted quite a few unusual things.
The only medical professional present (outside of support staff) was Robin Jackson, who is a RN. We met with her for a long consult of approximately 1-1/2 hours. I will give Ms. Jackson credit for her passion on trying to help people and her faith in stem cell therapy. However, I believe she is recommending therapy and treatment she is NOT qualified to be giving as a RN.
For example, just prior to the consultation with Nervana my mother met with a MD who specializes in pain management and is now introducing stem cell therapy treatments into his medical practice. (My mother already had a relationship with this doctor who had provided her steroid injections in the past.) According to the pain management MD, my mother is NOT a good candidate for stem cell therapy because she has just been diagnosed and treated for breast cancer in the last year and a half. According to this doctor stem cells stimulate new cell growth which would be bad for a recent cancer patient. So we asked Ms. Jackson about her thoughts on treating my mom with stem cells given she is a recent cancer survivor. Based on one research paper written in 2012 which states that amniotic fluid-derived stem cells are not tumorigenic, she declared it safe for my mom.
The only business card in the waiting area was for Ms. Jackson. There was no mention of or evidence that Dr. Goradia or Dr. Lee are involved in the day-to-day business or treatment of patients.
I later asked my mother if there were any MDs present at the seminar she had attended. She thought about it and realized that in fact there had been none. I also asked her how many people attended the seminar, she said approximately 200 people. Witnessing how easily my mom was swayed by the Nervana presentation I can imagine hundreds more like her will be as well.
I encourage anyone who is considering or currently getting treatment with Nervana: BE ALERT, PAY ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS, DO YOUR RESEARCH, ASK QUESTIONS, SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE FROM OBJECTIVE THIRD PARTIES! Here’s a very helpful resource and guide for asking questions. http://www.closerlookatstemcells.org/stem-cells-and-medicine/stem-cell-treatments-what-to-ask
I personally have had a “stem cell” treatment done here, majority of your information on all of your posts is incorrect. I feel amazing after having peripheral neuropathy for years I know have color back in my feet and can move my toes and even have some feeling back! I plan on going back for another injection when I get back from vacation!!! Thank you everyone at NERVANA!!!!!!
This sounds very encouraging. What was the approximate cost of this injection treatment? Thank you!
I believe they need a California Tissue Bank License according to the CDPH biologics FAQ: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/lfs/Documents/B-FAQ-Biologics.pdf
And the CDPH provides form “cdph8707” for requesting verification of an entity’s license. It requires downloading the form, filling it out and mailing it to CDPH.