Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

By: Mary Agnes Welch and Melissa Martin

Posted: 01/16/2015 3:00 AM | Comments:

News that a Winnipeg man falsified his credentials and charged chronically ill people thousands of dollars to participate in a questionable clinical trial has prompted health officials, regulators and police to pass the buck.

Meanwhile, Doug Broeska and his associates, including a Winnipeg physician, are in Trinidad this week preparing to open a new stem-cell clinic.

So far, at least three people have filed complaints with the RCMP about Broeska and his Winnipeg firm, Regenetek Research. The earliest complaints were filed in the summer of 2013 in Alberta and Manitoba. Another complaint was lodged in Saskatchewan last month.

RCMP would not say whether they are actively investigating Broeska and Regenetek. The three people who lodged the complaints told the Free Press they have not been contacted since their initial contact with RCMP.

In the last three years, Regenetek charged about 70 people as much as $45,000 for stem-cell treatment in India that Broeska claimed would halt the progress of multiple sclerosis and, more recently, Lou Gehrig's disease.

"Each and every one of over 60 patients in the trial has demonstrated significant functional improvement with enduring effect," Broeska wrote on his website. "Many have returned to complete health without symptoms, and some have been declared 'disease-free' by their neurologist."

But, a Free Press investigation found at least half a dozen patients experienced no improvement after travelling to India. And Broeska overstated the ethical approvals awarded to his clinical trial and falsified his credentials, claiming to have a PhD when he does not. In December, the Indian hospital where the stem-cell treatments are performed asked Broeska to step down as principal investigator, claiming he was putting patient safety at risk.

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Agencies mum on Regenetek