Stem cell clinics are tricking the sick and elderly into "expensive, unproven" therapies
Desperate people targeted by companies that claim to be able to cure everything from AIDS to Multiple Sclerosis.
A stem cell clinic has been banned and hit with a multi-million dollar fine after the FTC found it was selling unproven treatments for conditions including osteoarthritis, neuropathy and joint pain.
Two men ran a network of companies that used stem cells from the amniotic fluid of a mother's placenta to cure "a host" of medical conditions.
The company is part of a growing industry that claims to be able to cure terminal diseases by injecting stem cells into the body.
The effects of these processes are far from certain - although there is a risk they can cause malignant tumours and other serious health problems.
Under federal district court orders, the company that offered the therapies was banned from the market and fined more than $5 million in both civil penalties and refunds to defrauded consumers.
The stem cell injections cost up to $5,000 per injection, the FTC's complaint indicates. A total of 444 people paid for the jabs. Roughly 70% of the victims were over the age of 59.
"The founders... and their network of companies tricked people who needed real medical help into buying expensive, unproven stem cell therapy,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The court’s orders hold them accountable, refund consumers, and permanently ban the defendants from offering stem cell therapy and other regenerative medicine treatment in the future.”
$5000 injections and marketing materials "rife with baseless claims of efficacy"
In 2015, the pair founded a company that trained chiropractors and other healthcare practitioners how to "deceptively market unproven stem cell therapy in their practices", the FTC found.
This company trained its client clinics how to recruit patients through advertising, free “educational seminars,” and conducting consultations. Clients were given access to a huge dossier of sample advertisements that were "rife with baseless claims of efficacy" and the "appearance of being part of a nationwide network".
The defendants also used these deceptive marketing materials and “educational seminars” to attract stem cell patients to their own chiropractic clinic - charging up to $5,000 per stem cell therapy injection.
Many patients received more than one injection as part of their treatment. The group of consumers who purchased defendants’ unproven stem cell therapy consisted almost exclusively of elderly and disabled people.
Following extensive litigation, in March 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issued a summary judgment opinion and order in favor of the FTC and the State of Georgia on all counts.
The court found that the defendants created and published false and misleading advertisements about the efficacy and approval of stem cell therapy injection treatments for a "host of medical conditions".
They also "embarked on a comprehensive marketing campaign to distribute those ads to the public and to other medical clinics across the county."
The defendants are now prohibited from advertising, marketing, promoting, offering for sale, or selling any regenerative medicine treatments - including any treatment or therapy that claims to be stem cell therapy.
Cures for AIDs and Multiple Sclerosis
Stem cell scams appear to be a growing business. On a similarly-named company's website, a company posted images of sick children, which are far too graphic to even describe, let alone publish, and claim the injections had saved them. They also published the testimonies of people who claimed to have been miraculously cured by a stem cell injection - who told stories which raise many questions.
One video posted to the company's website tells the story of a man who was allegedly cured of MS within one minute of his jab.
It shows him getting up, putting down his walking stick, walking up the stairs, reaching the top triumphantly before saying: "I want to go to work, make some money, maybe have some kids."
Another video claims to show a man who was in "the last stage of AIDS" when he was suddenly cured with one injection, enjoying many years of a life spent travelling the world.
Our thoughts go out to the victims. Please get in touch to tell your story in confidence if you've had any involvement with stem cell scammers.
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