The Italian government withdrew its support for a controversial stem cell therapy trial before it was due to start, prompting an outcry from patients. The decision was announced by Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin on October 10, after an ad hoc scientific committee deemed the treatment too risky and undefined. In May, and bowing to public pressure, the government allocated €3 ($3.9) million to support a clinical trial of the method developed by the Brescia-based nonprofit Stamina Foundation and licensed to Medestea International of Turin, Italy. The treatment involves extracting the patient's own bone marrow stem cells, culturing to differentiate them into neurons and reinjecting them to treat neurodegenerative disorders. According to Lorenzin, Stamina failed to explain how that transformation took place. Both the trial's protocol and the experts' report are confidential. The only public information related to the method is a rejected patent application (http://www.nature.com/news/italian-stem-cell-trial-based-on-flawed-data-1.13329) and a paper showing no improvement in children with spinal muscular atrophy undergoing a similar procedure (Neuromuscul. Disord. 22, 1032–1034, 2012). “Unregulated clinical offerings are a worldwide problem; what's particularly distressing here is that Stamina's infusions have been done in public hospitals for years,” argues Paolo Bianco, a stem cell researcher at the University of Rome. “The alleged treatment with supposedly mesenchymal stem cell medicinal products was being administered in violation of both national and European laws, and from our inspection several major deviations were discovered,” says Luca Pani, director general of Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA), the national drug regulator. AIFA suspended operations at the Brescia laboratories in 2012 after discovering manufacturing irregularities. This prompted an appeal from patients for the right to be treated, and Parliament eventually agreed to fund the trial. “I'm promoting a parliamentary investigation to clarify any political responsibility for letting things go so far,” says Elena Cattaneo, who was recently appointed permanent senator for her achievements in stem cell research. At a press conference on October 24, Davide Vannoni, Stamina's founder, stated that the foundation will continue to offer the treatment to people who have acquired official permits for compassionate use issued by Italian courts.