Are Stem Cell
Tourists Being
Swindled?
Maybe, maybe
not. According
to the July
edition of the
publication
Popular Science
and its online
companion site
PopSci.com,
desperate US
patients are
headed offshore
for experimental
stem cell
therapies,
referred to as
stem cell
tourism.
Although there
are numerous
warnings, many
patients are
left with few
options and turn
to companies
that supply
adult stem cells
that are
harvested from
their bone
marrow and
blood, including
Regenocyte
Therapeutic,
XCell-Center
(Germany),
TheraVitae
(Canada) and
Beike
Biotechnology
(China).
The US-based
cardiologist
Zannos Grekos,
MD, FAAC, the
founder of the
adult stem-cell
company
Regenocyte
Therapeutic,
offers a unique
process touted
as "safe, highly
effective, and
present[ing]
minimal risk."
The process
involves an
evaluation and
drawing of blood
in Florida, then
the blood is
flown to Israel
"so that the
stem cells can
be ‘activated'
and multiplied
to a therapeutic
strength" in a
lab; once ready
they're sent to
the Dominican
Republic where
the patient is
greeted and
begins the
therapy.
The cost is
about $64,000
and Regenocyte's
site states that
this therapy is
used to treat a
range of health
challenges
affecting
cardiac and
vascular
patients as well
as ongoing
research and
development to
help those
suffering from
ALS,
Parkinson's,
Alzheimer's and
multiple
sclerosis.
On June 7, Costa
Rica announced
that it has
"discontinued
stem cell
procedures at
its biggest
clinic, the
Institute of
Cellular
Medicine (ICM)
in San José,
which has
treated about
400 people since
it opened in
2006" because
the Ministerio
de Salud
(Ministry of
Health) in Costa
Rica found
"there is no
hard scientific
evidence
indicating that
the treatments
work."
ICM had promoted
stem-cell
treatments that
have yet to be
proven
efficacious or
safe for
"multiple
sclerosis,
cerebral palsy,
and spinal cord
injury."
The
International
Society for Stem
Cell Research (ISSCR)
continually
urges patients
not to seek
therapy overseas
because these
practices have
not been proven
sound by the US
Food and Drug
Administration
(FDA).
In 2009, Jeanne
Loring, PhD,
director for the
Center for
Regenerative
Medicine at The
Scripps Research
Institute (TSRI)
in California,
echoed ISSCR's
concern in a
video clip,
explaining stem
cell tourism as
the
"exploitation of
the promise of
cures using
stem-cells."
Loring then
asked those who
have made the
decision to seek
stem cell
therapies
overseas against
all the warnings
"to ask the
clinic to
collect a sample
of the stem
cells they
intend to use
you can freeze
and send it to
me and I will
analyze it for
free and I will
tell you what
the stem cells
are and ...
[whether it]
will be
dangerous or
helpful to you."
Grekos contends
that the
practice is safe
and that adult
stem cells
should not be in
the domain of
the FDA,
"There's no
genetic
manipulation or
splicing -
you're not
altering the
cells at all.
All you're doing
is maturing
them. The growth
factors we use
are naturally
occurring in the
body."
Whereas
cardiologist
Deepak
Srivastava, the
director of
Gladstone
Institute of
Cardiovascular
Disease in San
Francisco and
member of ISSCR,
said "an
unbiased body
approving these
treatments is
important so the
public has some
sort of stamp. I
get e-mails
frequently from
patients around
the world
saying, ‘I got
stem-cell
injections, and
initially it
seemed like it
might have
helped, but now
I'm back in the
same boat.' "
It is unclear if
patients are
being swindled,
but if you find
yourself
reaching for
your passport to
get some stem
cells why not
take Loring up
on her offer -
it's free and a
clinic confident
in their
research and
therapies should
be willing to
undergo a second
(verifying)
opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgHBi1y1KG8 |
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