At the end of 2017, the Food and Drug Agency announced that it was going to crack down on scams involving stem cells. I have written repeatedly about this scam that is taking advantage of patients with advanced lung disease.
Con-Artists have been scamming patients with IPF for many years now – offering them the hope of completely unfounded improvement in their disease process by infusing “stem cells” into them. This has been in the gray zone of illegal medicine (though clearly in the unethical zone) until the FDA just announced that they would finally be going after these unscrupulous businesses.
Stem Cells are specialized cells in your body that may some day be the key to treating many diseases. However, today there are no approved uses of stem cells in lung disease. Small research studies are just beginning to explore this area.
Think critically before spending your money on bogus treatments. If there were an effective treatment that could actually live up to the claims of these scammers, why would it not be an FDA approved treatment? The answer is that it is not an effective therapy. Furthermore, any treatment that relies on testimonials is not a treatment that you should take. Not only are these treatments not helpful, they may carry the risk of infection or other side effects.
We welcome the news that the FDA is finally going to help pursue these scammers that have been taking advantage of patients with advanced lung disease.
Remember that clinical trials never require you to pay anything. All reputable clinical trials should be registered with the FDA.