Over the years I’ve been keeping my eyes open for advertising by stem cell clinics and lately the trend is big splashy ads in mainstream media including large daily newspapers such as the SacBee, the San Francisco Chronicle, and now the Seattle times (see below from today’s). These kinds of big ad buys on front or […]
Money talks: stem cell clinic ads mushrooming in mainstream media Read More »
I’ve seen stem cell clinic ad after ad pop up in the mainstream media in my own hometown in The Sacramento Bee paper, but others are sprouting as well and a friend sent me a particularly striking stem cell advertisement from a recent copy of the San Francisco Chronicle. Not only does this stem cell clinic
FIX IT! SF Chronicle runs striking stem cell clinic ad with coupon Read More »
What can go wrong with unapproved stem cell clinic offerings? The answer including from presentations at the FDA today turns out to be very serious, negative results right here in the U.S. Thomas Albini, MD gave a talk entitled, “Severe Visual Loss After Intravitreal Injection of Autologous Adipose Tissue-derived Stem Cells for Age-related Macular Degeneration”.
Negative stem cell clinic outcomes include 3 blinded women Read More »
There has been relatively limited response from clinics themselves to the Cell Stem Cell paper that Leigh Turner and I published recently on the scope of the stem cell clinic industry in the U.S. We found 570 stem cell clinics and there could easily be 50-100 more that escaped our search methods or that have
Some stem cell clinics respond with ‘not me, them’ Read More »
My colleague Leigh Turner and I today published a new paper in Cell Stem Cell documenting for the first time the American stem cell clinic arena in a comprehensive way, which we found as of February has a remarkable 570 clinic locations via 351 businesses. These numbers are way beyond the predictions of most researchers
New paper with Leigh Turner shows huge American stem cell clinic industry: 570 locations Read More »
Remember Nervana Stem Cell Center, an amniotic stem cell clinic here in the Sacramento area, which I’ve posted about before here and here. One big question about Nervana remains unanswered: is its apparent marketing of amniotic stem cells for arthritis and other conditions is OK with the FDA? Another question has been, “who are the medical
Sacramento amniotic stem cell clinic advertises again, but by another name Read More »
One of the difficult things about the regulatory sphere that covers stem cells in the US is that many aspects are confusing or puzzling both to the public and so-called experts. We’ve been talking through some of the questions that come up in this area in posts and comments on this blog. What does a warning
To stem cell clinics: do your homework & take FDA “current thinking” seriously Read More »
I was eating my Sunday breakfast and reading the SacBee, when a full-page ad for a stem cell clinic jumped out at me. I dropped my toast onto the plate and grabbed my iPhone to take a picture. The ad is for Nervana Stem Cell Centers in Sacramento. A little research on their website revealed
Fat & amniotic stem cell clinic Nervana opens in Sacramento Read More »
Over the years I’ve heard from quite a few patients of stem cell clinics who feel very strongly about their experiences. Some have quite positive views on getting stem cell interventions, while others feel very negatively about the stem cell clinics. I’ve heard more of the latter kind of experience. People often tell me that
Some patients unhappy with stem cell clinics Read More »
For years I have been working to educate the community about the predatory stem cell clinics out there. These clinics prey on vulnerable patients and their families. The clinics use hope as a marketing tool. A weapon. As the number of such clinics has mushroomed in the US and elsewhere the risk to both patients
Predatory stem cell clinics are winning: what can we do? Read More »