Consumers struggle to sort out many stem cell claims

NPR reports on the confusion among consumers about stem cell therapy. It's easy to find on websites and other advertisements claims of cures for practically every medical condition, but traditional American medical doctors say that so far stem cell therapy has been proven to work in only a few blood disorders. "Consumers have a hard time sorting out all the stem cell claims out there. Websites often look professional and convincing. ... Often these clinics are based in the Caribbean, the Ukraine, China, South America. Sometimes it's impossible to tell just where they are; to contact them, you fill out an online form and they get back to you. The US-based websites typically send their clients offshore for treatment not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration" (Knox, 7/26).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.