FTC returns half a mill to consumers of “deceptively marketed amniotic stem cell therapy”

There’s a lot of questionable “stem cell” injections these days involving purported amniotic stem cell or other perinatal (birth-related) material. Regulators are taking note including the FTC, which took some unprecedented action last year on this front.

Now the FTC has announced that more than half a million $USD have been returned to consumers who got dubious “amniotic stem cell” material.

From the FTC announcement:

“According to the agency’s October 2018 complaint, Dr. Bryn Jarald Henderson, D.O. and the companies he owns and operates, Regenerative Medical Group and Telehealth Medical Group, deceptively advertised that their “amniotic stem cell therapy” could treat serious diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, autism, macular degeneration, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and heart disease. The defendants lacked the scientific evidence needed to support these claims.”

I’m wondering where the FDA’s CBER is on this front too because true living amniotic stem cells used in the kind of manner described above would most likely constitute an unapproved drug product. Are there even living cells in such products though?

I’ve said this before, but while it’s bad enough to do any of this kind of thing, it really pisses me off when doctors and clinics inject children with unproven, potentially dangerous “stem cell” stuff that could be just about anything. In my opinion the goal at clinics injecting kids with unproven stem cells more generally often seems to be more about making profits than helping kids.

This new FTC development of money going back to families is good news, but if you read my original post on the FTC action in this case last year, it seems consumers paid far more on average than what they are getting back so that doesn’t quite add up. I’m not sure what the deal is here and how much the subjects of this FTC action paid to the agency in other costs. The original report mentioned $3.31 million, but it wasn’t clear about its status.

Just searching the web for Dr. Bryn Jarald Henderson found that what seems to be his office appears “permanently closed” (see image above), at least according to Google. I tried calling, but no luck.

In the big picture, how many other doctors (and suppliers) are selling perinatal materials as “stem cells” to treat just about any medical condition? We saw at least 12 people go to the hospital last year due to E.coli and other bacteria in a perinatal product.

I hope we’ll see much more action here by federal and state regulators. People are getting hurt.