Access
This article is part of Nature's premium content.
Published online 3 December 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.1276
News
Stem cell society urges action on bogus clinics
Regulators should protect patients by closing centres offering dubious therapies.
The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has warned against "fraudulent clinics" offering risky stem-cell treatments and has called for government authorities to shut them down in new guidelines.
In addition, the ISSCR patient handbook published alongside the guidelines provides a list of questions patients should ask future practitioners, such as whether a treatment is considered routine and what evidence has been collected to support it.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Comments
Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email redesign@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.
these clinics exploiting the expertise of stem cell therapy should be given international attention as this may cascades to more worst physiological upheavals due to wrong clinical procedures.
my father had a stem cell procedure done in Singapore last year for his heart. According to him the stem cells didn't stick. Does anyone know if this place would be one of the bogus clinics? Thanks
I get telephone calls from the public, almost every week, asking about one procedure or another. It is difficult to tell an ill person not to get his/her hopes up yet but I do it and explain the difference between data based on animal studies, and that from approved, transparent, clinical trials. Recently, a reporter at the Pittsburgh Tribune Review solicited opinion on the case of a Pittsburgh boy who apparently showed improvement in his vision after "chord stem cell" injections in China. One of 16 other kids at a cost of $60K per patient! See the link for more information: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_601408.html