When I was a kid there was this commercial on TV for Chiffon margarine (fake butter) with the slogan, “It’s not nice to fool mother nature!” As a kid I thought it was dumb but kind of funny. A modified version of that mother nature advertising slogan has become a cultural tagline. Don’t mess with […]
Don’t mess with (mother) Nature: why risk taking on a powerhouse journal? Read More »
The 60 Minutes show here in the U.S. has done sobering segments over the years on risky, unproven stem cell clinics, but now there is a new episode of 60 Minutes Australia that is the polar opposite: it mostly made a mess of things with its fluffy coverage of the story of a wonderful little
60 Minutes Australia Pushes Unproven Stem Cells for Cerebral Palsy Read More »
Early in 2016, we started hearing about patient allegations of having been blinded in Florida by at least one stem cell business and several allegations seemed linked to a publicly-traded company called U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. (USRM). In turn, there have been a number of lawsuits involving USRM, including one filed just a few months
Sen. Grassley asks tough questions for FDA on U.S. Stem Cell, blinded women Read More »
Stem cells are appearing more often in pop culture including movies like Spiderman, newspaper articles (and advertisements), just about a year ago on Dr. Oz, and now yesterday for the first time that I remember in the New York Times (NYT) crossword puzzle. There I was doing the NYT puzzle last night while munching a
Stem cells pop up in pop culture including New York Times crossword Read More »
Right-To-Try laws have been passed in many states across America, paving the way in theory for gravely ill patients to have the right to try unproven treatments of various kinds, and now there is a serious push underway for a national Right-To-Try law. What is a Right-To-Try law? Typically, these Right-To-Try laws allow for a patient
Push for National Right-To-Try Law Raises Concerns in Stem Cell Community 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 »
Would you believe in a stem cell miracle? Sometimes the mainstream media stumbles in its coverage of the stem cell world and a recent CNN puff piece on a patient of stem cell clinic Celltex is a prime example of just how extreme this can get. The CNN piece focuses on a Celltex patient who self-reports perceived
A nation of stem cell miracles? CNN puff piece on clinic patient & Trump blows it Read More »
I often am asked if there are ongoing or possible upcoming lawsuits against stem cell clinics. Doing periodic searches such as on Google is one way to learn more about whether there are stem cell legal cases out there. Recently I did such searches for a variety of terms including “stem cell lawsuit” and “stem
Possible class action lawsuit against stem cell clinics Read More »
Would Scientific American run an ad for a stem cell clinic? What a strange Internet world we live in these days, huh? Leigh Turner and I just published a piece in Cell Stem Cell on the state of the US stem cell clinic market finding 570 clinics and this paper has drawn a lot of
Dang: ad for stem cell clinic @Sciam article on our paper on stem cell clinics Read More »
An elderly woman in Australia reportedly died shortly after receiving a fat stem cell transplant. Sheila Drysdale passed away hours after getting an adipose stem cell treatment a few days before Christmas in 2013. That death is now being investigated by the coroner there. Not only is this death in Sydney distressing in it of
Woman’s death after “no big deal” fat stem cell therapy: coroner investigating Read More »