FDA

Congress pushes FDA on stem cell clinic mess in new letter

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It can be kind of a big deal when politicians, especially at the federal level, write the FDA about stem cells. Is this going to be good news or bad? Some combination? I tend to worry that some senators or representatives might pressure the FDA to weaken oversight. However, lately it seems like the opposite …

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Permanent injunction on clinic firm US Stem Cell is big blow to fat clinics

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Today the United States District Court of the Southern District of Florida entered a permanent injunction against stem cell clinic firm US Stem Cell and co-defendants including U.S. Stem Cell Clinic. Patients have been harmed by the unproven treatments sold by these firms. US Stem had lost the case a couple weeks back, but now …

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Groundbreaking defeat for US Stem Cell, fat stem cell clinic industry in federal court

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In a precedent-setting decision, a federal court has ruled for the FDA against a key stem cell clinic firm called U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. The court granted summary judgment for the FDA in its suit seeking a permanent injunction against the Florida stem cell clinic firm. While the company is likely going to appeal, this is …

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Dissecting Liveyon FDA inspection report & troubled perinatal stem cell industry

Liveyon

The perinatal stem cell clinic supplier Liveyon has had many issues recently including an FDA inspection that  in my view didn’t go well and which I’ll return to in a minute. First, some background on the company and this troubled industry. E. coli and other pathogens ended up in some of the Liveyon product somehow …

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FDA needs to quickly act against IRBs enabling risky fat stem cell clinics

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Institutional review boards or IRBs are some of the biggest enablers of risky, unproven stem cell clinics. We often see statements on stem cell clinic websites to the effect that they have approvals from IRBs so the clinic firms must think that patients like to see that. Why would specific IRBs approve for-profit “experiments” by …

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Clinic biz US Stem (USRM) may be kaput in matter of weeks or months

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In a surprising development, the United States government (FDA and DOJ) and the stem cell clinic firm, US Stem Cell (USRM), Inc., that it has sued seeking a permanent injunction, have agreed on something! According to new court records on Pacer (see screenshot), they have both given up on mediation in the federal lawsuit. Further, …

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Scott Gottlieb leaving FDA: possible reasons, impact on stem cell field, & more

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Maybe the announcement that Commissioner Scott Gottlieb will be leaving the FDA soon shouldn’t have caught us all off-guard, but it did. Gottlieb isn’t a perfect Commissioner, but he brought a sensible, open approach to running the FDA that was very refreshing. Amongst all the top leadership in the Trump administration, Scott Gottlieb stood out …

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New Florida bill mixes RTT spirit with turning unproven stem cell sales into a felony

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A new Florida bill (Bill 65 of 2019) could make the practices of stem cell clinics a felony. At the same time it would open the door to patients receiving still experimental stem cells that have at least started the clinical trial process. What’s going on? A number of states have been stepping up action …

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FDA under Scott Gottlieb goes large on stem cell clinics with crackdown likely

Dr.-Scott-Gottlieb

The US has been bursting at the seams with unproven stem cell clinics for years, which in my view necessitates some kind of bold action by the FDA and other governmental agencies so I’ve wondered what new FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb would do on this front. The lead up to and beginning of a …

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Sizing Up Sizzling FDA Warning Letter to Fat Stem Cell Clinic Stemgenex

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Do the hundreds of unproven fat stem cell clinics in the U.S. like Stemgenex have a tenable future without working with the FDA? It seems less certain now in 2018 than it did in 2017, and that’s a good thing in my view. Stemgenex received an FDA warning letter yesterday that included a list of many …

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