Medical Files By Rafael Castillo M.D. Philippine Daily Inquirer

First of two parts

Last Wednesday, the leaders of close to 30 medical organizations, composed of specialists from various fields, gathered at the office of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) to reassert their recommendations to the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (PhilFDA) to regulate stem cell treatment (SCT) in the country.

As we said in a previous column, many local practitioners are jumping the gun and, unfortunately, sprinting in the wrong direction with their unscrupulous administration of stem cells left and right for various medical conditions. Their medical practice has not been established as safe and effective for this experimental treatment.

Some medical colleagues were quoted as saying that these medical organizations that are sounding the alarm dont realize that they are killing this promising treatment of the future. I dont think so. Theyre in fact protecting this potential form of treatment from practices that would compromise the safety of patients on the long term, and give it a bad name.

More local experience

In previous columns, weve encouraged more local experience on stem cell treatment under a research protocolwhich is also one of the strong recommendations of the PCP and other medical organizationsso we could gain expertise on it and contribute to the world literature. Unfortunately to this date, there is only one published case report (a single case) in a peer-reviewed international journal.

It is estimated that for the last five years, at least 3,000 Filipinos were given stem cell treatment locally in the big centers and small stem cell clinics which have sprouted like mushroom in Metro Manila and other key cities in the country. Its difficult to explain why there is no published reportother than the lone case reportof what has happened to all these patients given this experimental treatment.

See the article here:
Rejoinder to the stem cell ‘tempest’