An international team of medical experts recently published a global call to action in Science Translational Medicine in an effort to curb the unethical, unsubstantiated use of stem-cell based therapies driving medical tourism. Such ill-advised “stem cell” treatments have led to pediatric deaths in Germany, blindness in the United States, the closure of Italy’s Stamina Foundation to name a few as well as a variety of untoward effects given their lack of rigorous testing for safety and efficacy.
With high price tags, so-called “stem-cell” clinics are designing therapies without evidence that serve to do harm, be ineffective, prey on the most vulnerable—potentially curtailing their ultimate treatment choices, and threaten the legitimate work being done that holds great promise for devastating disease.
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Stem cells are currently in use for a rather limited scope of disorders…The notion that they can cure every type of medical condition is not one based in our present reality or the near term future. The media tends to overstate where we are in stem cell-based therapeutics.
Related on the SLP
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Facilities offering false hope often based on the most minimal of clinical evidence are popping up all over the country and world without well-controlled clinical trials or having met any regulatory standards.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Fraud Alert! Unproven Stem Cell Use Prompts International Call To Action
