The Peril of "Stem Cell Tourism"

I have warned against this from time to time, but it always bears repeating. The hype tossed around so casually in the great stem cell debate—mostly but not exclusively by ESCR proponents—has raised hopes so high that some people are rushing for unproven stem cell treatments in places like India and China. I worry that this is quackery. Remember, ES cells cannot be used safely in humans and most adult stem cell treatments remain at the clinical trial stage.

An Australian woman was recently taken in and feels cheated. From the story:

A NEW type of traveller dubbed the stem cell tourist is worrying Australian scientists and doctors who say the vulnerable ill are being duped. Australians with debilitating and sometimes terminal diseases are spending tens of thousands of dollars for unproved stem cell treatments in Third World countries.

Many, such as Townsville paraplegic Asti Poole, are coming home out of pocket, and extremely let down, after seeing little or no improvement in their conditions. Ms Poole, 28, went to an infertility specialist’s clinic in India last year for two months of embryonic stem cell treatment.

Four other Australians were also at the clinic receiving treatment for spinal cord injuries. None has shown significant improvement. “We’d all joke that we were getting our dose of water for the day,” Ms Poole recalls. “It just looked like they had filled a needle up with water. We used to joke that we were all being conned. None of us are miraculously walking.”

It’s better that they were conned than actually injected with embryonic stem cells. Otherwise, they’d have to worry about dying from tumor formation.

Please. Please. Anyone thinking of obtaining stem cell therapies, do so through a reputable doctor or via a certified human trial. Otherwise, you might not just get cheated financially, you could put your heath at material risk.