This kind of franchising of stem cell for-profit operations deeply concerns me in terms of its potential risks to increasing numbers of patients and to the stem cell field as a whole.

I recently did an interview series with the leaders of one such chain, theCell Surgical Network.Itsa group of dozens of linked clinics with a menu including stem cell interventions for a whole spectrum of conditions. You can read my postsPart 1&Part 2, as well as my concerns inPart 3.

Cell Surgical Network is not alone.

Another similar kind of stem cell clinic chain is calledStem.MD.

It describes itself as a national regenerative medical practice of 50 clinics and 55 doctors.Thats a huge and apparently growing number of clinics in 45 cities.

Super-sized Claims

It worries me when I see operations such as Cell Surgical Network and Stem.MD offeringpanacea-like menusof fixes for nearly whatever ails you. The number & nature of claims being made is astonishing.How can they treat potentiallydozens of diverse medical conditions(this link is just for ortho-related issues)?As a stem cell scientist who closely follows clinical translation of stem cells I have to say Im extremely skeptical.

How so?

Stem.MD makes quite a few rather bold medical claims on its website.For example, remarkably, they claim on their treatments pagethat they can provide a treatment for every condition and a curefor many common injuries. See a screenshot below from their website with red lines added by me for emphasis.

Excerpt from:
Claims of Stem Cell Cures by Clinic Chain, Stem.MD | Knoepfler ...