This editorial comment lays out a perspective reflected in the scientific community at this time regarding stem cell therapy and more importantly the FDA position regarding the proliferation of clinics peddling unproven therapies to a vulnerable public. Although they are not clinicians, the authors, R. Alta Charo, J.D., and Douglas Sipp, B.A., cast valid points in addition to summarizing recent FDA guidance. They conclude that, "Predatory marketing of untested stem cell treatments has exposed patients to unjustifiable risks and has been a blot on the field for more than a decade. The consequences of lax oversight are all too clear. The recent action by the FDA is a promising beginning toward disciplining the field, but it is only a beginning, and much more remains to be done."
The debate regarding oversight (or lack thereof) both at the federal and state level continues and who and how stem cell therapy should be administered hopefully will be determined and pronounced definitively in 2018.
Read the full perspective published the NEJM: