Does Medicare cover stem cell therapy? Readers of The Niche have regularly asked this question. They’re curious about insurance coverage too. The answer is “no” in almost every case, with some notable exceptions I’ll get to at the end of the post. Still, clinics appear to have already been charging Medicare for what collectively adds […]
When I first started The Niche more than a dozen years ago, I hoped we’d see a Parkinson’s disease stem cell therapy by now. A proven one. I was a little too optimistic back then. Now in 2022, I know much better how hard translation to the bedside can be in general. Still, I’m hopeful.
Parkinson’s disease stem cell therapy research update Read More »
A common question I hear from readers of The Niche is some version of, “Is stem cell therapy covered by insurance?” Sometimes they also ask about Medicare coverage. To be clear, I’m talking about unproven stem cell “therapies” here. The type clinics sell. It’s not FDA approved so generally insurance companies and Medicare will not
Is unproven stem cell therapy covered by insurance? Read More »
The regular emails and phone calls I get from patients asking questions about stem cell therapy are a powerful reminder of the fact that research in our field can be very personal. Sometimes individuals who receive experimental stem cell therapy (or other cell therapies) and seem to have a positive outcome can end up becoming
Overplaying N=1 in the stem cell therapy world Read More »
How much promise is there today for stem cell therapy for heart disease? Where do things stand with the clinical research? Patients regularly ask me these kinds of questions. The goal of today’s post is to update you on where things stand. What’s in this post Stem Cell Therapy | Clinical Trials | Delivery of
Stem cell therapy for heart disease: what you need to know Read More »
I am in the unique position of being a stem cell scientist who has no commercial interest in selling therapies so I can be impartial on giving patients and consumers guidance. In today’s post I give an overview of stem cell therapy and provide an expert, unbiased guide to navigating this area. This post is
Updated patients guide to stem cell therapy for 2024 Read More »
As long as I’ve been writing The Niche as a professor here at UC Davis School of Medicine, people have been asking me about stem cell therapy for COPD. There is a lot of misinformation out there in this space. Let’s clear things up as to where the biomedical science stands today in late 2023
Stem cell therapy for COPD: challenges & hope Read More »
It’s hard in the cell therapy field not to get excited even with bits of seemingly encouraging news but with N=1 reports we have to be very cautious and that’s the case with news from Vertex on their 1st stem cell therapy for diabetes trial participant. Vertex stem cell therapy for diabetes VX-880: N=1 This
Vertex upbeat on 1st stem cell therapy for diabetes trial participant Read More »
What are possible stem cell therapy side effects? This is a common question I get asked. Most often it is asked by patients who reach out. They usually refer to risks at unproven stem cell clinics Check out the YouTube video below on our stem cell channel including my video on stem cell therapy side
Stem cell therapy side effects & risks: infections, tumors & more Read More »
The other day I gave a talk in part about stem cell hype and mentioned as an example how the idea of already doing stem cell therapy for autism seems so misguided to me now. On the whole, in my view there are major downsides and risks for autistic kids whose parents are already having
Fact-checking stem cell therapy for autism: still a risky idea Read More »