How can you tell who to trust in the world of stem cell therapy? What information can a patient trust? Once upon a time about a dozen years ago it seemed a much simpler question. There were universities and biotech companies doing legit research as well as clinical trials, and there were physicians doing bone […]
Stem cell therapy: the good, the bad, & the muddy waters Read More »
Professor Joanne Kurtzberg’s clinical work at the Duke Autism Center on umbilical cord blood for autism and cerebral palsy (CP) involves a partnership with a publicly-traded cord blood banking firm called Cryo-Cell. Kurtzberg is also the Medical Director at the firm. In addition they have intellectual property in this area. The Duke team’s efforts, including
Duke & Cryo-Cell plan big clinic for unproven infusions of kids Read More »
A solid new, blinded placebo-controlled Phase II study from the Duke Autism Center clearly shows no benefit of cord blood for autism. Surprisingly, the team has said they are encouraged by the results. As a result, they apparently will continue this kind of work anyway despite their data. In contrast, I see the data as a
Duke Autism Center trial: no benefit of cord blood for autism Read More »
As of October 1, Google was supposed to have banned ads for unproven stem cell clinics and products. This was according to their own new policy. How’s that going? How’s this new Google approach to unproven stem cell marketing working out in the real wild world of the web? To test it, I did over
My B grade to Google on early test of its stem cell clinic ad ban Read More »
Amongst all that is bouncing around within the stem cell clinic maelstrom out there, one thing stands out for me as the most troubling. I’m talking about for-profit experimentation on children, such as injection of kids with unproven stem cells for autism or cerebral palsy by unproven clinics. In my opinion it’s almost always going
Journal erred on Panama clinic stem cell for autism paper Read More »
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
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took some strong action against specific stem cell clinics today and the physician behind them. I see this as really good news and it’s something I’ve been pushing for years. The clinics in question in part marketed unproven stem cells for sick kids. Frankly, iffy for-profit stem cell “treatments” for
101-year old lady cured? Groundbreaking FTC Action on Stem Cell Clinic Marketing Read More »
Stem cells for flu? For me, that idea is new. Some months back there was buzz about the stem cell biotech Longeveron related to its report on early trial data on testing infusions of mesenchymal stem cells for frailty in the aged. Frailty that pops up in some aging folks can manifest in a variety
Stem cells for the flu? Pondering PR email, frailty data from Longeveron Read More »
A new article by Honor Whiteman in Medical News Today (MNT) on a Mexico stem cell clinic really takes the prize so far in 2016 amongst media pieces that engage in stem cell hype. Update; Many on Twitter are calling for retraction of this MNT article. The MNT article entitled “Stem cell therapy: is the US
Medical News Today article reads like an ad for Mexico stem cell clinic Read More »
The FDA has sent a Warning Letter to the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center. The leader of Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center is Dr. Thomas Gionis and the letter was addressed to him. Interestingly, this letter, dated December 30, 2015, contains redactions. At one time this clinic was part of the larger Cell Surgical Network (CSN)
FDA Warning Letter to Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center Clinics Across US Read More »