Opinion: We need better regulation of stem cell therapies, especially rogue clinics
Rogue stem cell clinics continue to victimize hopeful patients seeking cures for cancer, Parkinson’s disease, autism, chronic pain, and more.
Most of these treatments are unproven and unsupported by evidence, wasting precious time and health care dollars for desperate patients and often doing more harm than good to patients’ health and survival.
Yet public demand for stem cell treatments is outpacing our ability to regulate them. Government agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission should be stepping up to the plate to do this, but it isn’t likely that the money will be found soon to do that. It’s going to take a larger effort that includes legislators and medical associations who are already empowered to move against these clinics.
We are at a tipping point in medicine when it comes to using our own
