Over the past dozen years as I’ve written about stem cell clinics here on The Niche I’ve gotten to know many of those running the clinics including Dr. Mark Berman of Beverly Hills. It was therefore kind of a shock to learn that Berman died of last month. Michael Hiltzik of the LA Times reported […]
Thoughts on death of stem cell clinic leader Dr. Mark Berman Read More »
A stem cell clinic in the Cell Surgical Network chain has just been sued allegedly for causing vision loss in a patient. By my count, across the U.S. this makes at least 5 patients who have said they were either totally blinded or had some major vision loss after getting stem cells injected into their
New suit for vision loss against Cell Surgical Network clinic Read More »
The FDA has sought injunctions in federal court against two stem cell clinic firms including the clinic chain Cell Surgical Network headquartered here in California and US Stem Cell in Florida. According to new documents filed by the government in federal court here in California there may be more ties between the clinic firms than
FDA alleges Cell Surgical Network links to US Stem Cell & COVID plan Read More »
For more than a year in my first job as a scientist I isolated cells from umbilical cord veins and then tossed the tissue away, never realizing there was more there that could be useful in the form of something called Wharton’s jelly. What’s in this article Umbilical cord histology & Wharton’s jelly | What
What is Wharton’s jelly & its possible clinical uses? Read More »
The FDA filed two suits against unproven stem cell clinic firms in 2018 seeking permanent injunctions against them including US Stem Cell in Florida and Cell Surgical Network, et al. here in California. There’s been a major new development in this story that I see as good news. Court rejects US Stem Cell clinic appeal
US Stem Cell clinic loses appeal, could impact pending Cali case? Read More »
Stem cell clinic firm US Stem Cell has just had a major paper retracted. Two of the notable authors on that paper are US Stem Cell leader Kristin Comella and stem cell researcher Thomas Ichim, who was senior author. It’s not clear to me if Comella currently has a role in the firm or not.
Stem cell clinic US Stem Cell has key paper retracted Read More »
I confess that I’m old enough to remember when the acronym MSC stood unambiguously for “mesenchymal stem cells”, but should it refer to a broader term like “mesenchymal cells”? The field has moved in that direction. I think that’s the best way to go too and I’ll explain why. The goal of today’s post is
Mesenchymal cells or MSCs: definition, clinical potential, challenges Read More »
Some key questions about stem cells often go unanswered like ‘where do stem cells come from?’ The goal of this post is for me as a stem cell biologist to answer your questions on stem cells. What’s in this article? The Niche | Adult stem cells | Where do stem cells come from? | What
Where do stem cells come from? Expert answers Read More »
People ask me questions about stem cells all the time so I decide to do a new blog series answering your questions. Today’s post is the first in this new stem cell Q&A series. Past series have included my Elephant in the Lab series that provides some insights into the craziness that sometimes goes on
Patients stem cell Q&A#1: can clinic injections cause GVHD? Read More »
In what could be a serious legal warning sign for the stem cell field, California federal district court Judge Jesus Bernal denied the government’s motion for summary judgement against Cell Surgical Network, et al. related to their marketing of an unproven fat stem cell product via their chain of clinics. The FDA is seeking a